The comments towards Brautigan were ridiculous honestly. He was never really spiteful to anyone. Just a weird guy who wrote what he wanted for himself. I can't say exactly the same for some of these guys.
Thsi really nails how much literary scenes depend on who shows up when. That detail about Spicer being gone during the Six Gallery reading is almost Shakespearean in its timing. The jealousy angle makes total sense when you realize Ginsberg didn't just steal attention he fundamentally changed what kind of poetry got amplified in that moment. I've seen similar dynamics in smaller creative communities where someone's marketing instincts end up mattering more than the work itself, and it creates this weird resentment thats both justified and petty at once.
I appreciate this, as well as the linked article about the Berkeley follow-up event to the first reading at Six Gallery. David, I live a few blocks away from that location! I attended SFSU Poetry Center/Creative Writing in the eighties and have read Spicer for decades, and never knew of the details you bring to light. This research matters!
Waiting for someone to write about how JoAnne Kyger navigated between SF poets and so called beats. Her friendship with Spicer and Duncan and her relationship with Snyder.
I liked reading the bitch gossip. I haven't read "In Watermelon Sugar," "Rommel Drive in Deep Into Egypt," or "Coney Island of the Mind" in years, but "child-like perception"? Dos that describe Brautigan any more or less accurately than it does Ferlinghetti?
The comments towards Brautigan were ridiculous honestly. He was never really spiteful to anyone. Just a weird guy who wrote what he wanted for himself. I can't say exactly the same for some of these guys.
Thsi really nails how much literary scenes depend on who shows up when. That detail about Spicer being gone during the Six Gallery reading is almost Shakespearean in its timing. The jealousy angle makes total sense when you realize Ginsberg didn't just steal attention he fundamentally changed what kind of poetry got amplified in that moment. I've seen similar dynamics in smaller creative communities where someone's marketing instincts end up mattering more than the work itself, and it creates this weird resentment thats both justified and petty at once.
I appreciate this, as well as the linked article about the Berkeley follow-up event to the first reading at Six Gallery. David, I live a few blocks away from that location! I attended SFSU Poetry Center/Creative Writing in the eighties and have read Spicer for decades, and never knew of the details you bring to light. This research matters!
Thanks for reading.
Spicer is a strange character. I knew very little about him when I started my 6 Gallery book but he kept coming up over and over in the research.
Waiting for someone to write about how JoAnne Kyger navigated between SF poets and so called beats. Her friendship with Spicer and Duncan and her relationship with Snyder.
Yes. More writing on Kyger is needed.
I liked reading the bitch gossip. I haven't read "In Watermelon Sugar," "Rommel Drive in Deep Into Egypt," or "Coney Island of the Mind" in years, but "child-like perception"? Dos that describe Brautigan any more or less accurately than it does Ferlinghetti?
Ferlinghetti was capable of being really bitchy at times.
Yeah he is mentioned and cited, though there wasn’t a huge amount to go on. He kept comparatively quiet later in life.
Sadly, I think you are right about high notes and depression.
I hope you enjoy the book.