Synopses & Reviews
Literary Nonfiction. Poetry History and Criticism. Revised and Expanded Second Edition. Here is the definitive biography of American poet and artist Kenneth Patchen. Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972) was a poet, novelist, artist, performer of poetry-jazz in the tradition of engaged writing which he helped forge in America. Producing a book a year during his writing life, his work and life stand as a huge exposed girder in the structure of American culture and art. His friendships with such writers as James Laughlin, Henry Miller, E. E. Cummings, Muriel Rukeyser, Amos Wilder, Dylan Thomas, Lewis Mumford, Kenneth Rexroth, David Dellinger, Jonathan Williams, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti place him at the center of dissident writing in America.
Rising from his native grounds in working-class Ohio, he became a leading figure among the Leftist thinkers and artists of 1930s and 1940s Greenwich Village, then moved on to the West Coast where he created dynamic blends of poetry and art, poetry and jazz, poetry and theater. Finally crippled with back pain during the last decades of his life, he created the famed picture poems of his Wonder Period.
For four decades on East and West Coasts, by the force of his will and native genius, Patchen molded life and art as one. With the loving support of wife Miriam, he endured the pain and travail of years of struggle to recast an art based on truth and striking beauty. The tale of Kenneth and Miriam Patchen has become one of the great lover stories of American literature. His is the story of the rebel artist in America.
"In my eyes Kenneth Patchen is now and will remain one of the outstanding figures in American letters. He represents all that a poet should represent, whether expressing himself in verse, in prose, in paint, or in action. By his example he has given courage, direction, and inspiration to more poets than anyone I know of on this continent Patchen stands out like a shining warrior, a herald of peace and truth, endowed with invincible heart and integrity. No one can read him without being affected—and influenced in his own life and work. It is not only the youth who are indebted to him but all of us, unto the last and most fanatically ardent defender of the Word."—Henry Miller
Review
"In my eyes Kenneth Patchen is now and will remain one of the outstanding figures in American letters. He represents all that a poet should represent, whether expressing himself in verse, in prose, in paint, or in action. By his example he has given courage, direction, and inspiration to more poets than anyone I know of on this continent Patchen stands out like a shining warrior, a herald of peace and truth, endowed with invincible heart and integrity. No one can read him without being affected--and influenced in his own life and work. It is not only the youth who are indebted to him but all of us, unto the last and most fanatically ardent defender of the Word." -- Henry Miller ......
"It has taken more that twenty-five years for this great poet's underground life to see the light of day in this rich, thorough, compelling biography. Patchen, our most unfortu¬nate, forgotten, unique man of American letters and of' passionate mercy' created his own wonder world of words, kingdoms and creatures to save himself--and us all: HURRAH FOR ANYTHING and HALLELUJAH ANYWAYI" -- Norbert Blei
Synopsis
"It has taken more that twenty-five years for this great poet's underground life to see the light of day in this rich, thorough, compelling biography. Patchen, our most unfortu¬nate, forgotten, unique man of American letters and of' passionate mercy' created his own wonder world of words, kingdoms and creatures to save himself--and us all:
HURRAH FOR ANYTHING and HALLELUJAH ANYWAYI" -- Norbert Blei
Synopsis
Here is the revised and expanded second edition of Larry Smith's biography of noted American author and artist, Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972). Patchen was an intimate of fellow artists and writers: Henry Miller, Kenneth Rexroth, James Laughlin, E.E.Cummings, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and others. With over 38 books, he published a book a year during his life...proletarian, avaunt-garde, politically engaged writing, and he pioneered experiments in poetry-jazz, and picture-poems.The story of Kenneth and Miriam Patchen is one of the great love stories in American Literature
Synopsis
Here is the definitive biography of American poet and artist Kenneth Patchen. Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972) was a poet, novelist, artist, performer of poetry-jazz in the tradition of engaged writing which he helped forge in America. Producing a book a year during his writing life, his work and life stand as a huge exposed girder in the structure of American culture and art. His friendships with such writers as James Laughlin, Henry Miller, E. E. Cummings, Muriel Rukeyser, Amos Wilder, Dylan Thomas, Lewis Mumford, Kenneth Rexroth, David Dellinger, Jonathan Williams, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti place him at the center of dissident writing in America.
Rising from his native grounds in working-class Ohio, he became a leading figure among the Leftist thinkers and artists of 1930's and 1940's Greenwich Village, then moved on to the West Coast where he created dynamic blends of poetry and art, poetry and jazz, poetry and theater. Finally crippled with back pain during the last decades of his life, he created the famed picture poems of his Wonder Period.
For four decades on East and West Coasts, by the force of his will and native genius, Patchen molded life and art as one. With the loving support of wife Miriam, he endured the pain and travail of years of struggle to recast an art based on truth and striking beauty. The tale of Kenneth and Miriam Patchen has become one of the great lover stories of American literature. His is the story of the rebel artist in America.
Synopsis
Well, the first modern poet I ever heard of was Kenneth Patchen, when I was living in Greenwich Village in New York as a kid about 1939. And then again after the war in '46, '47, he was the first modern poet I ever ran across, and he and Kenneth Rexroth were the greatest political poets of the period after the second world war, and they were great love poets too. They are kind of the fathers of our generation [of poets]. He and Henry Miller were what you might call a 'dissident brotherhood.' They were a kind of dissident triumvirate to me and were saying things that no other poets or writers were saying. . . . --Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Synopsis
"I arrived in San Francisco only a year after Kenneth Patchen's death in 1972, but even then his spirit and legend was a major presence amongst those of us who were" the baby Beats," impressionable, and of the 60' s generation. Kenneth Rexroth was singing his praises. For those of us who have gone their own way, counter-culturally, Kenneth Patchen may be, directly or indirectly, the most important influence on our generations' poetic voice. Along with the likes of Jack Spicer, Bob Kaufman, Jack Hirschman, Philip Lamantia, and the Beats, Patchen sings to us still. Kenneth Patchen: Rebel Poet in America is the long-overdue testament and homage to this modem 20th century icon."
-- Thomas Rain Crowe
Synopsis
press release, review copies, readings
Synopsis
Literary Nonfiction. Poetry History and Criticism. Revised and Expanded Second Edition. Here is the definitive biography of American poet and artist Kenneth Patchen. Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972) was a poet, novelist, artist, performer of poetry-jazz in the tradition of engaged writing which he helped forge in America. Producing a book a year during his writing life, his work and life stand as a huge exposed girder in the structure of American culture and art. His friendships with such writers as James Laughlin, Henry Miller, E. E. Cummings, Muriel Rukeyser, Amos Wilder, Dylan Thomas, Lewis Mumford, Kenneth Rexroth, David Dellinger, Jonathan Williams, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti place him at the center of dissident writing in America.
Rising from his native grounds in working-class Ohio, he became a leading figure among the Leftist thinkers and artists of 1930s and 1940s Greenwich Village, then moved on to the West Coast where he created dynamic blends of poetry and art, poetry and jazz, poetry and theater. Finally crippled with back pain during the last decades of his life, he created the famed picture poems of his Wonder Period.
For four decades on East and West Coasts, by the force of his will and native genius, Patchen molded life and art as one. With the loving support of wife Miriam, he endured the pain and travail of years of struggle to recast an art based on truth and striking beauty. The tale of Kenneth and Miriam Patchen has become one of the great lover stories of American literature. His is the story of the rebel artist in America.
"In my eyes Kenneth Patchen is now and will remain one of the outstanding figures in American letters. He represents all that a poet should represent, whether expressing himself in verse, in prose, in paint, or in action. By his example he has given courage, direction, and inspiration to more poets than anyone I know of on this continent Patchen stands out like a shining warrior, a herald of peace and truth, endowed with invincible heart and integrity. No one can read him without being affected—and influenced in his own life and work. It is not only the youth who are indebted to him but all of us, unto the last and most fanatically ardent defender of the Word."—Henry Miller
About the Author
Larry Smith is a poet, novelist, critic, and biographer. His literary biographies include Kenneth Patchen (Twayne Series, G.K. Hall, 1978) and Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Poet-at-Large (Southern Illinois University Press, 1983). His also wrote and co-produced with Tom Koba two video docu-dramas Kenneth Patchen: Poet of Engagement and James Wright's Ohio. He has edited books of
Appalachian and working-class writing for Bottom Dog Press. Together with his wife Ann and poet Phil Metres he edited the national anthology Come Together: Imagine Peace for Bottom Dog Press.
Smith is a professor emeritus of English and Humanities at Firelands College of Bowling Green State University and holds a doctorate from Kent State University. In 1980-1981 he held a Fullbright lectureship in Sicily where he taught a course on American Romanticism and the Beat Movement. His recent books include the novels The Long River Home and The Free Farm, and two books of poetry, A River Remains and Each Moment All.
As a native of the industrial Ohio River Valley he shares a working-class background with author Kenneth Patchen. He and wife Ann live along the shores of Lake Erie in Huron, Ohio.