Synopses & Reviews
In Black Mountain Days, Michael Rumaker has written a touching, poetic memoir of Black Mountain College from 1952 to 1956. What were for the college its final four years were for Rumaker a sequence of journeys of creative and personal discovery that took him from a working class neighborhood of Philadelphia to America's most significant progressive institution. Along the way, Rumaker finds his vocation as a writer and comes to terms with his sexual identity. A funny and endearing account of his misadventures and insider's glimpse at life at BMC. Brilliantly sketches personalities like Robert Creeley, John Chamberlain, Charles Olson and others. A unique in-depth account of one student's years at legendary Black Mountain College, with sketches of personalities like Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Robert Creeley and Charles Olson among many others. A young man's journey to becoming a writer and his coming to terms with his sexual identity, which even at liberated Black Mountain scarcely dared speak its name. A personal portrayal of a young man from 1952-56 in an extraordinarily progressive institution situated in the incongruously conservative Bible Belt. His struggles which he deals with humorously, openly and with great sensitivity. A page-turner!