So Going Around Cities: New and Selected Poems, 1958-1979

by Ted Berrigan

New edition of this classic, and long unavailable, 416 page collection of the late Ted Berrigan's work. Originally published in 1980, this collection is, as Ted Berrigan said at the time — "as much as possible of "The Story So Far" — the story being that of the wide-ranging mental (and real) life of this major figure in American poetry of the 20th century.

Genres: Poetry

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Berrigan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 15, 1934. After high school, he spent a year at Providence College before joining the U.S. Army. After three years in the Army, he finished his college studies at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, where he received a BA in English in 1959 and fell just short of the requirements for a M.A. in 1962. Berrigan was married to Sandy Berrigan, also a poet, and they had two children, David Berrigan and Kate Berrigan. He and his second wife, the poet Alice Notley, were active in the poetry scene in Chicago for several years, then moved to New York City, where he edited various magazines and books.

A prominent figure in the second generation of the New York School of Poets, Berrigan was peer to Jim Carroll, Anselm Hollo, Alice Notley, Ron Padgett, Anne Waldman, Bernadette Mayer, and Lewis Warsh. He collaborated with Padgett and Joe Brainard on Bean Spasms, a work significant in its rejection of traditional concepts of ownership. Though Berrigan, Padgett, and Brainard all wrote individual poems for the book, and collaborated on many others, no authors were listed for individual poems.

The poet Frank O'Hara called Berrigan's most significant publication, The Sonnets, "a fact of modern poetry." A telling reflection on the era that produced it, The Sonnets beautifully weaves together traditional elements of the Shakespearean sonnet form with the disjunctive structure and cadence of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Berrigan's own literary innovations and personal experiences.

Berrigan died on July 4, 1983 at the age of 49. The cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver brought on by hepatitis.

Reviews

[Gee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six stars. My poetic bible. I cannot leave the house without reading a few lines.

[Ed Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was taking poetry workshop with Steve Carey in 1982. I seemed to be at Ted & ALice's
apartment on St. Mark's Place with Joel Lewis & Mike Reardon talking poetry with
Ted many days, afternoons & nights.
I remember reading the Selected in two days and I started writing Dwasline Road my
first chapbook in 1982. By 1983 it was finished and Ted had edited some of my
early poems. This book started my poetry career. Fond memoreies of Ted, Alice Notley and their children who are poets too:
Anselm and Eddie Berrigan of this period of my life.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

The notes on this book incorrectly identify the publisher as the Subterranean Company, whereas in fact it was published by George Mattingly (that's me) and Lucy Farber of Blue Wind Press. The selection was made by Ted, and contains most (though not all) of his life's best work. As he died in 1983, this book captures the best of most of what he did.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the first read, I don't understand all of it, but some of those things begin to make sense with time... other parts are immediately apparent, simple, clever, honest. I think I really like it a lot.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave up on this book. No fault of Berrigan's. I do love, love, love the poem "Red Shift" however. Maybe in a few years I'll get it!