Edward Dorn: A World of Difference

by Tom Clark

After initiating a critical involvement with new poetics in dialogue with his mentor Charles Olson at Black Mountain College in the 1950s, Dorn wandered the trans-mountain West following the variable winds of writing and casual employment until the mid-1960s, when a time of trial and change resulted in the beginnings of the groundbreaking long poem Gunslinger . This first biography by his longtime friend and fellow poet Tom Clark—author of previous biographies of Jack Kerouac, Ted Berrigan, Charles Olson and Robert Creeley—offers a record of Dorn's life and work drawing upon fresh testimony, letters and unpublished manuscript material provided by surviving family members.

Genres: Poetry, Biography

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Clark was an American poet, editor and biographer. Clark was educated at the University of Michigan and served as poetry editor of "The Paris Review" from 1963 to 1973 and published numerous volumes of poetry with Black Sparrow Press. His literary essays and reviews have appeared in "The New York Times," "Times Literary Supplement," and many other journals.

Reviews

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great, but leaves out everything that happens after Dorn leaves first wife, until Dorn's last year or two, while he's dying. That's way too much to leave out.

[Paul Varner · Rating 2 out of 5]

A major biography but almost of no use to scholars because of its organization and the fact that IT HAS NO INDEX!