What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life

by Mark Doty

Effortlessly blending biography, criticism, and memoir, National Book Award–winning poet and best-selling memoirist Mark Doty explores his personal quest for Walt Whitman.

Mark Doty has always felt haunted by Walt Whitman’s bold, new American voice, and by his equally radical claims about body and soul and what it means to be a self. In What Is the Grass, Doty—a poet, a lover of men, a New Yorker, and an American—keeps company with Whitman and his mutable, landmark work, Leaves of Grass, tracing the resonances between his own experience and the legendary poet’s life and work.

What is it, then, between us? Whitman asks. Doty’s answer is to explore spaces tied to Whitman’s life and spaces where he finds the poet’s ghost, meditating on desire, love, and the mysterious wellsprings of the poet’s enduring work. How does a voice survive death? What Is the Grass is a conversation across time and space, a study of the astonishment one poet finds in the accomplishment of another, and an attempt to grasp Whitman’s deeply hopeful vision of humanity.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, LGBT, Queer, Audiobook

288 pages, Hardcover

First published April 14, 2020

About the author

Mark Doty is a poet, essayist, and memoirist. He is the author of ten books of poetry, including Deep Lane and Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems, which won the National Book Award. He lives in New York, New York.

Reviews

[willowdog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am one of the many readers who have read all or parts of ‘Leaves of Grass’ looking for those lines, hunting for those phrases, that spoke to me as a gay male. I wanted to find myself in the ‘Song of Myself.’ I was told they were there, a gay male speaking to me of desire. But I wasn’t prepared for Doty’s study of this work and how it has spoken to him over many years.
In What is the Grass, Walt Whitman in My Life, Doty proves that he can give a scholarly look at the work and make it assessible to all. Think of it as a TED talk that one reads. Doty delves into the meaning he sees of various passages, the subjects Whitman is not afraid to expose and tackle, the etymology of words used and the newness of their use in his collection, the edits he makes over time, the typeset of his words, the quiet, blank spaces, his innovations, and the movement and placement of various passages in different editions. He views Walt as a man of his time, and yet out of his time. Doty explores Whitman’s family, his readings, his mentors, his motivations, his influence on writers who came after him, and his drives. Through all of this, he makes the case of Whitman’s genius, who with this work changed the face of American poetry, and as Doty believes “changed the world.”
And yet, the second title--Walt Whitman in My Life—is where I find Doty shines. Doty has always been a writer whose autobiographical writing is so transparent. He is not afraid to reveal his strength and weaknesses. (HIs Heaven’s Coast is a work I have returned to many times as a pivotal memoir whose journey is so universal.) By looking at various passages of ‘Leaves of Grass’, he sees Whitman speaking to him, as the work speaks to the ‘you’ in all of us. The voice of Whitman has presence in our world and in Doty’s life. The poetry echoes through time. It’s the genius of the work. So grateful that a poet of Doty's skill has been able to capture the genius of the work.

Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher for this electronic copy.

[Diane S ☔]

Putting this aside right now, may pick it back up later.

[fatma · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Mark Doty's measured, passionate prose makes for an accessible and genuinely enjoyable piece of literary criticism/memoir. Definitely a hidden gem, this one.

RTC

[Hank Stuever · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tad clunky and precious at first, but it becomes a beautiful journey, as a poet and professor, Mark Doty, gets as close as he possibly can to his true love: Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." If you're looking for an intense, deep dive into Whitman's essential work, it's here. (I haven't read "Leaves of Grass" since I first read it nearly 30 years ago, and probably didn't read it very well back then; no matter, Doty will get you where you need to be, and has picked out the key parts to examine.) I learned a lot from this book, but enjoyed it more as it went along and grew more personal, stylish and memoir-ish. Reflections of a gay man living and walking in Whitman's footsteps more than a century later, taking notes on the eternal sensuousness that is life.

[James Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of Doty's combined memoir and critical analysis of Leaves of Grass is engrossing reading. One of the most interesting sections is his interpretation of what is actually meant by grass. He explains grass identifies with the dummy pages of random words set by printers--recall that Whitman was a printer--to check how well-designed and centered a page was. It's "grass as hieroglyphics." Words come out of a printer's (or writer's) unconscious to form a reality and then fall away. Just, Doty reminds us, as each of us do in living our lives in this world.

I read Leaves of Grass frequently. For years, though, I've been in the habit of reading only the 1855 edition because a critic and poet I admire suggested Whitman's later editions weakened the book as a whole. Doty comprehensively glosses such later, iconic poems as "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," and "The Sleepers" with insight convincing me that the next time I feel the need to read Leaves of Grass I should read the later editions, too.

A surprise for me was Whitman's acquaintance with Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. Stoker visited Whitman in America several times, and Doty's theory is that the character of the Count is modeled on his perspectives of Whitman.

That man, Whitman as homosexual, clearly means a lot to Doty's own identification--even pride-- and lifelong practice as a gay man. Of course, he's now a 67-year old living in an age when same-sex relationships are accepted. But as a man he's also poet and academic who focuses the memoir portions of the book on his own homosexual life as refracted through the prism of Whitman. Walt's poetry isn't the only inspiration for Doty.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
A contemporary poet discovers he “contains multitudes”--and pairs his intimate memoir with a close reading of the work of Walt Whitman.
See full review: https://openlettersreview.com/posts/w...

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard book to review because:
I love Walt Whitman
I love Mark Doty
I love parts of this book
I do not love this book

[BookChampions · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We must know our fellows in order for everything to move forward; it is our spiritual imperative to connect, or else the destiny of the world cannot be completed." (167)

I cannot fully review this wonderful new Mark Doty book without sharing some of my biases. For one, Walt Whitman has been a beacon in my life since my college days, when I read "Song of Myself," literally out loud, walking across campus. He was a safe, joyful queer space well before I had language for what was going on in my body--or anyone to talk about those poems with.

And two, I can be thoroughly delighted when reading literary criticism. Following a reader enthusiastically make meaning out of a text can be intoxicating and contagious. And no doubt about it, watching Doty illuminate Whitman's poetry here makes me long to be back in the classroom.

So biases aside, I declare that *What Is the Grass* is compelling enough for anyone interested in the impact literature has had and can have on American culture, the life of Walt Whitman, queer theory, and/or queer memoir.

Doty's project moved from delight to indispensable to me around page 75 when I witnessed him blend all these genres and purposes so effortlessly. This is more than biography and more than lit crit. It's the story of a reader, and a lifelong relationship with a body of work. And it is invigorating and lovely and wise.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a difficult read. In it, Doty combines a critical appreciation of Whitman's life and poetic accomplishments with a personal memoir. Doty is clearly extremely knowledgeable about Whitman and conveys much about the poetry that is new and interesting.

Whitman is a favorite poet of mine. His poetry is effusive and at some level all-encompassing of nature and humanity in a way that is difficult to describe. His notion of where the boundaries are/were between himself, his comrades, and his current (and future) readers is very loose and unrestrictive. His work often comes across as an ecstatic interaction with the world around him, one that is almost too much for him to bear, and which charges the reader with the same ecstatic relational energy.

Whitman's poetry is definitely permeated with an eroticism that is often homo-erotic (or potentially auto-erotic instead - it is unclear to me) with phallic imagery and a robust libidinous energy expressed throughout, but the poetry is also deeply inclusive and spiritual in its core. Doty absolutely gets this, and discusses aspects of this, particularly in the latter part of the book.

The difficult part of this book is in the middle section, where Doty appears to project his own orientation and lifestyle onto Whitman. The memoir aspect of the book reads as a confessional of anonymous sexual addiction along with descriptions of more serious relationships, and the author somehow projects these relationship styles onto Whitman. It is possible that this is a valid reading, but ultimately it feels like it it overemphasizes one aspect of Whitman, kind of like dwelling on Blake as a florist because he wrote of a sick rose. The image that ends up coming across to the reader of the middle of this book is of a Whitman who hurries into the bushes for anonymous gay sex. I don't especially care what Whitman's orientation was - to say that he was gay feels like pretty old and irrelevant news nowadays, so I find it curious that Doty appears to fixate on it.

[Kevin Bertolero · Rating 3 out of 5]

The close reading of Whitman got tiring after a while, but I really enjoyed the sections which were more focused on Doty's life and experience with/relationship to the text. I'm also very happy that he talks about Wakefield Poole's Bijou (1972). If nothing else, this was worth the read solely for the mental image I now have of an 18-year-old Mark Doty wrestling with his 18-year-old step son. Very hot.

[William Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about Walt Whitman from reading this book. I also learned about Mark Doty. He interweaves his commentary on a great queer writer of the past with his own experience as a queer writer in the present. The bits on Doty himself were most interesting to me, because they seemed most heartfelt and lifelike.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got over halfway on audio...might return with a hard copy. I feel this needs more attention than I can give as well. I love Whitman but would need to reference or read his work more thoroughly to appreciate the criticism Doty offers. I also appreciated his journey as a gay man reading Whitman but it doesn't resonate with me. Ultimately I really could not focus on this and some of that is me but some is the writing. Sorry!

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scholarly, accessible, personal, insightful, and all about Walt Whitman—what more could one ask for? This book took me on a joyful journey... The way Mark Dory blended literary criticism with memoir was magical and seamless. Full of heart, a sense of humor, and Doty’s deep love of all things Whitman, I was engaged from the first page all the way to the last sentence.

[Martha Anne Toll]

Here’s my review on NPR https://www.npr.org/2020/04/16/834991...

Shout out to this book here https://themillions.com/2020/12/a-yea...

[Jeimy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part literary analysis and part biography; I must admit that I enjoyed the biographical bits more.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is the Grass deserves—no, needs—multiple readings. I don’t say this just because much of the language is poetic, or because the structure is loosely based around five sources the author identifies for the poetry and genius of the poet Walt Whitman rather than upon a chronology of events. I say it because the book defies genre; it is memoir, biography, and criticism. I say it because the book is a meditation upon one of the great poets of the United States and, like the experience most people have while meditating, the book reflects the wandering mind as well as deep insights into self.

What is the Grass is a book about Walt Whitman and his work, but is also about the effect Whitman has had on the author.

What is the Grass is loosely structured by five sources Doty identifies as sources for Whitman’s creativity: (1) A loosening and blurring of boundaries; (2) "uncharted desire" (3) the modern city; (4) American speech; and (5) and an awareness of death.

Walt Whitman would be 202 years old as I write this. Yet, I doubt there are few who have not heard of the man nor read at least something one poem by him. Today, with our American democracy in crisis, Whitman reminds us of “love of “comrades” and the transformative power of democracy and of Abraham Lincoln’s vision of the United States as the “last, best hope of earth”. We are bound one to another on this planet, in this country, and we are bound to each other through our experience of possessing a body that will die. It is the breaking down of our barriers and the loving of one another that will bring us together. As Whitman’s poetry expresses, democracy grows from this and makes this love possible. It transforms and regenerates.

Doty writes that “in all his huge body of work I can find mention of only two things he wishes to possess: the love of a comrade and the attention of the reader.” What is the Grass gives Whitman the love and attention he desired.

A recommended book.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Doty and Mary Oliver are my two favorite poets - both geniuses, in my opinion. Doty's analysis of Whitman's work is brilliant and thoughtful. He also weaves in stories from his own life that can be quite moving, especially when talking about the AIDS era. He makes us understand Whitman's gay life and the coded (not always) language Whitman uses to describe his desires. Of course, Doty's reach is much further than Whitman's sex life, but it's an important aspect of the book.

The challenge for me is that sometimes Doty's use of his own stories of sex addiction (he struggles with that term) can be gratuitous. I'm a lesbian and I don't think of myself as prudish, but there were moments I winced, wondering why certain stories were necessary, especially when they pull you out of a connection to Whitman.

This is a minor point, however, because no one should miss the extraordinary understanding that Doty has of Whitman's work. I began to read Whitman himself last night and found that, for the first time, I could really understand much of what he is saying, how, and why. That's an invaluable gift.

[Lex Poot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recall that when I read Whitman I saw poetry in a whole new light. I was never one that loved the traditional poetry. However here was someone that did not care for rhyme schemes. Yet voicing his poetry made perfect sense. Enter Mark Doty. I have never read really into Whitman's life and Mr Doty opened up a whole new meaning on some of Whitman's poetry. I had never read into the homosexual undertone. Now I have finished this book I will get his selected work from the shelf to reread it.

I like the theme in which Doty put our more liberal society against Whitman's time in which it was seen as a disease a crime. However Doty becomes a bit too personal in some of his writing. Also I can do without the home eroticism. I think it distract from the work.

I found a few typos in the book. Like on page 46 first line it reads "... teach us are real are". There were a few more instance of hasty editorship.

[Chris LaTray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend to like the idea or Walt Whitman more than I think I like his actual work, though for the last couple years it's been my intention to revisit it. Doty's book has certainly inspired me to indulge that intention probably sooner than later, though I have to say his careful deconstructions as to what Whitman means in many of his poems were the least compelling parts of this book for me. That's never been something I enjoy, breaking writing down in search of an author's intention. But it is the strength of the rest of the writing here—how Whitman's work has accompanied Doty throughout his life, the autobiographical anecdotes, etc.—that makes this a read I enjoyed far more than I expected to. It does what I would think any writer would like new writing to do: it interests me in reading more of his work.

[Amanda Pruett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Doty is able to illuminate the gorgeousness of Whitman’s work while simultaneously mirroring its sense of loving, spiritual wonder through his own prose. What an absolutely delightful and indispensable companion to Leaves of Grass.

[Janet Blank-Libra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doty takes us not only into his life but into the heart and mind of Walt Whitman. This is a beautiful book.

[Andrew Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir. Part literary criticism. Part history. Wonderful exploration of Whitman through several lenses.

[H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so dearly looking forward to this book due to its intensely niche nature: Mark Doty on Walt Whitman, with a heavy focus on queerness. It felt somehow made for me.

This book contains so many revelations about Whitman, Emily Dickinson, William Blake, Oscar Wilde, Thoreau, etc. Literary gossip is 100% up my alley, and in exposing his own youthful romances Mark Doty inserts himself into that realm of historical literary gossip, for later generations to be headily scandalized by. I saw one reviewer say they don't understand why Doty focused on Whitman being queer. Sucks to be straight I guess. In this book Doty clearly inserts himself and Whitman into the gay literary poetics of America, and I loved that this served as a kind of dual-biography. I loved the constant highlighting of other queer American writers, especially Brooklyn poets. For the book to have not permeated queerness would be for the book to not exist at all—for as Doty says, "Whitman is ultimately a queer poet in the deepest sense of the word: he destabilizes, he unsettles, he removes the doors from their jambs."

This book was less profusely in love with Whitman than I had expected it to be, and even while it portrayed him more complexly I was a little disappointed. I was unaware that Whitman wrote indisputably racist words and that he was at times a self-promoting fraudster (e.g. the fake butterfly anecdote). Doty seemed to go through emotional waves that reflected my own: sometimes enamored with Whitman's one-man-revolution, at other times let down or even aghast. In the end, Doty forgives Whitman his flaws: "I rail against his attempts to turn outward and write crowd-pleasing poetry. But we tend to be hard on heroes. I might think instead of the hard truth of being close to penniless, and how welcome the income brought through the occasional honorarium, or a newspaper's fee for a bit of timely verse. Or of the Civil War, and the years of attending to ruined bodies, an endeavor as physically challenging as it was utterly heartbreaking—particularly for one who'd once hoped that the love of comrades might be the foundation of our social order. Or think of the physical robustness of Whitman in his thirties, and the increasingly debilitating illnesses that darkened his later years, the stroke that left him unable to walk, entirely dependent on a chain of attendants."

Ultimately this book brought Whitman even closer to the present day. For other books on Whitman I recommend Sherry Ceniza's Walt Whitman and Nineteenth-Century Women Reformers and Whitman Noir: Black America and the Good Gray Poet edited by Ivy G. Wilson.

[Matthew]

I am not one for memoir, but I am enjoying this new style of memoir meets study/biography of another artist (ie My Autobiography of Carson McCullers).

[Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A crucial and necessary addition to the queer-focused scholarship of Walt Whitman. Doty makes a compelling argument about Whitman's role as queer American forefather via close readings of "Song of Myself," the "Calamus" poems, and "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," contextualizing the struggles of a poet grasping for community.

[Suzanne Ondrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was wonderful how it wove a deeply personal narrative, historical exploration of Whitman, and literary analysis of Whitman's work. Doty was so generous in sharing from his life!

"It's an odd compelling notion, that the book is a published and distributed extension of its author's presence; holding his book, are you touching the poet's skin?" (89).
"Stepping outside the bounds of the acceptable sets us apart, and sets us to thinking" (91-92).

"How far can a poem depart from its times, when there is no intellectual, cultural, or social framework for it, and thus no means for it to be received?" (95).

Doty describes Whitman's line of "Seas of bright juice suffuse heaven" as "the dawn as a wash of illuminated semen shot across the atmosphere" (96).
"Whitman seems to have been acutely self-aware, and he surely knew that in America we cannot reconcile horniness and wisdom"(109).
Doty discusses desire as existing in the "realm of the unsaid" (112).
Just as language began to classified homosexuals, Whitman's poems "became unwriteable"(115).
Being wordless and unnamed is the most difficult silence (112)
"Do you not know O speech how the buds beneath you are folded?" (Whitman qtd in Doty 108) This is as if to say sexual energy is at the root of us and is of our language.
"All my life I have looked and looked at the mystery of desire, and I feel no closer to understanding it. Nothing else has so shaped my decisions, my way of life; were one to inventory the costs of sexual difference the total would be enormous, yet I know that I would have paid any price. But what is it that compels us, what is it we want? Touch? Entrance behind the barrier of the skin, to penetrate the boundaries of another body, or be penetrated ourselves, as a remedy for our extreme loneliness, the awful sensation of the singular self in the singular skin? Some narcotic form of forgetfulness, an opiate dispensed by the hands of another? Not orgasm, finally, and only partly pleasure: there are many sorts of pleasure, many forms of satisfaction, but what other has the deep lodestone pull that sex has? "(81-82).
"Freedom to love and have sex with those you choose is in fact freedom to be yourself in notoriously complex realms"(146).
"...A phrase I would like to revive: to have knowledge of someone. It suggests that sex is, or can be, a process of inquiry..."(150).
I was surprised to learn about the connection and exchange between Bram Stoker and Whitman. Doty connects the dracula blood drinking to Whitman's line about stretching from head to toe (oral sex). (158, 165-166).
Doty discussing a relationship says they "shared a deep pleasure in the work of description, trying to articulate what we saw..."(161).
"Jacques Lacan says that all desire is based in a sense of lack"(163).
"It's only through the body, Whitman asserts, through sense perception, that we know we exist"(265).
Doty delves into Buddhism, "what continues in us--the bit that endures, going forward from life to life--is simply awareness; that's our core, the wide-awake part of us that registers where we are, taking in the world. The rest--biography, character shaped by family, circumstance, culture? Perhaps that's just identity received by the body, and when the body's gone all that is, too--leaving you simply a sentience, a gaze looking out at the world"(266).
"What I know for certain is that this complex of feelings, this knowledge gained through the body, through experience and trust, is woven together in me, around me, into something that feels like a dwelling place"(267).
When speaking of his lover who is 23 years younger than him, he says "I do believe that something of what is mot true and most radiantly alive in the world is made visible to me though him, in his beauty and kindness, and in the ferocious sexual heat of him"(271-272) Doty quotes Whitman (272):
Closer yet I approach you;
What thought you have of me, I had as much of you--I laid in
my stores in advance,
I considered long and seriously of you before you were born.

[Brian Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, books like these where the writer inserts autobiography into their exploration of a fellow writer's life and work can seem like egomania or becomes more about the author than the subject.

I loved the intersection in this case and more so because the poet really delivers an insightful exploration of Whitman himself, where his own life is an appropriate element of that search. In this case, an accomplished poet who is gay finds parallels of his love life with Whitman's itself (it's pretty standard reading of Whitman's life and poetry that he was gay in a time when one could not disclose that publicly). But most importantly, it gives Doty sensitive insight into Whitman's great Leaves of Grass, which is brilliantly analyzed here.

He bases this reading upon five identified sources. The first is Whitman's language, the break of traditional verse protocol that Whitman employed to criticism. It's not controversial today, blank verse that doesn't rhyme and that fits the mood and needs of the poet without strict metrical rules. It also includes popular diction that was supposed to be eschewed for the needs of "great poetry". Most readers and critics see those choices of Uncle Walt as some of his most enduring legacies. The second is his sensual experience of other people, what mostly resulted in Whitman being one of the great "banned books" of all time. If you read between the lines, Whitman is pretty open about the celebration of human bodies being so important to the human experience, so much so that an intelligent reader will see veiled references to sexuality being celebrated as one of the great joys of humanity. Doty places his own journey to open sexuality within this context. The third is citizenship both of his city and the world. Whitman was very much a poet reacting to events in New York City as well as the Civil War and implanting them within a view of our citizenship of the world both in the mid nineteenth century but, well, eternity beyond time and space. The fourth are those diction choices and how they operate within the poetry to make impacts. Doty looks at them at a micro level as a poet does. Fifth source is syntax and the reframing of expression within a popular idiom.

Any reader of poetry or of Whitman will find plenty of new insight here and a very lively read. It's compelling stuff and comes highly recommended.

[Daniel Dimitrov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Заглавието си казва всичко —Марк Доти разказва за любимия си поет, така както може би разказва на студентите си. Преплетени с прочита на Уитман са и спомени на Доти от минали любовници, опита му (неуспешен) през 70те да има нормален буржоазен хетересексуален живот в американските крайградия, спомени от съпруга му и скорошната му смърт, спомени от хомо клубове в Ню Йорк от 80те, а също преплетени са и много елементи от биографията на Уитман без да ни се спестяват пикантериите от живота му (като например вероятните любовни искри прехвърчали между Уитман и Брам Стоукър. Дори има индикации (бележка под лията в някакво писмо към някого някъде, но любовния живот на писателите от края на 19ти век е обвит в мистерия), че образът на Дракула е базиран на Уитман и е начин за Стоукър да преработи потиснатите си хомоеротични фантазии в нещо поносимо за времето), почти сигурния факт, че Уитман и Оскар Уайлд са били за кратко любовници. Специално внимание в “Тревни стръкове” е отделено на хомоеротиката в поемите на Уитман, голяма част, от която отпада след първата публикация на книгата. Всъщност да, оказва се, че когато Уитман възпява “мъжката любов към другарите си” всъщност има предвид точно това.

Книгата е доста повече от това, но както обичайно се случва пикантериите остават в съзнанието по-дълго от всичко останало.

И всъщност Уитман е един забележително демократичен поет, дори и при съвременен прочит, в чиято поезия, в страниците и параграфите с изброявания и изброявания, има място за всичко и за всеки с еднаква важност (макар и начинът, по който присъстват жените в поезията му да е леко проблематичен от днешна гледна точка, както отбелязва Доти, а те присъстват основно, чрез репродуктивните си способности).

Донякъде сравнявам Уитман с нашия си Вазов, негов съвременник (макар и наложения образ на Вазов в националното съзнание изглежда да е на един морален стожер, съблюдаваш патриархалните ценности (пълни глупости)), но реално и двамата поети са присъствали и документирали, всеки по своя начин, изгрева на една нова демокрация и ново национално самосъзнание, наивни по своему, често сантиментални, но въпреки всичко свидетели на ентусиазма и на разочарованията на епохата.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this book three stars, because I often dreaded the mental work that I knew it would take to read it--but I also deeply appreciated the knowledge and expertise that went into writing this book. Reading this book was like sitting an entire semester of a deep-dive Whitman senior seminar, so strap yourself in!

Mark Doty's "What Is The Grass" serves two different purposes: the book is both his memoir and a deep analysis of the life and writing of Walt Whitman. I felt that I knew what to expect with the poetical analysis. However, I was pleasantly surprised and taken by the candidness and honesty of Doty's memoir aspect of the book. Going into it, I was more familiar with Whitman than with Doty and it was illuminating to read anecdotes and experiences from the perspective of a gay man who was coming of age during the AIDS epidemic. Doty is also able to describe the nuances of gay interactions and culture in way that it explicit but also approachable. For this reason, I think that one of the main reasons you should pick up this book is if you're interested in understanding this often marginalized perspective.

Doty's analysis of Whitman's body of work and his life reveals a wealth of knowledge and understanding. Although I had read Whitman before, the insights that Doty provides caused me to question different poems that I felt I already understood, hold certain lines closer to my heart, and better understand the enigma that is Walt Whitman and his contributions to modern American poetry.

This book was heavy. It took me far longer than I would like to admit to read it and often I found myself struggling through pages. But the struggle was worthwhile and I also found myself frequently underlining insights and truths that Doty presented about identity, the idea of "self," society, sexuality, and death.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Walt Whitman, enjoys literary analysis, is interested in the gay experience, or is generally interested in a challenging but fulfilling read. Don't read this book if you're not willing to put in some serious brain power.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this non-fiction book. Its partly about Walt Whitman and partly a memoir about Mark Doty's journey of self-acceptance. I've recently become interested in the life and profound influence of Walt Whitman. In addition to Mark Doty, Billy Collins, Allen Ginsberg and Harold Bloom have all extolled his remarkable vision. Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, both, were fascinated by Whitman during his lifetime. This book delves into Whitman, the man and his poetry, more deeply than I had done previously (which I find exciting.) Also Doty's prose is gorgeous and so when he describes New York, either in Whitman's day or during any decade of Doty's own life thereafter, one sees the flashing lights, hears the clatter, smells pungency of the sidewalk. Doty's memoir focuses on just one aspect of his life and how he sees Whitman in every step of it. It has become one of my all time favorite reads.
Whitman writes to "you" as if he sees us all through ages not yet lived and certainly which he did not experience. The Whitman "you" is all encompassing and at the same time specifically you. His poetry feels keenly relevant and also a relection of history simultaneously.

What I loved most about this book, full of the witnessing of queerness, is that it is a book for everyone, the very same universe Whitman addressed. While gay readers of any age would certainly find much that speaks to them, I too found it fascinating, engaging and wise. I think Whitman would have liked the book very much. I really can't recommend "What is the Grass" (and Walt Whitman and Mark Doty) enough.

PS If you have never yet read Walt Whitman's poems, I would first watch any short documentary (on Youtube or elsewhere) about the poet. I find his poems really come to life once you know the historical context. Now that I know more, I can't stop reading his poetry.