A landmark work of cultural history--now in paperback--by one of our best critics and chroniclers: the story of how four young poets reinvented lit...
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reviews
Aug 24, 2011
Ronald
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A rather intimate look at the New York School of Poetry — a close-knit group of post-World War II poets comprised principally of John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, and James Schuyler. The book contains many samples of their poetry to support Lehman's observations, and a collection of photographs of the poets and their friends. Though I usually struggle to find any meaning in a lot of poetry, or to understand others' analyses of it, Lehman's portrayal of the environment in which they opera
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Dec 07, 2011
Eric
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In 1990, as a college junior, I spent a semester as an intern for Brad Gooch, helping to research his authorized biography of Frank O'Hara, which would be published in 1994 as City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O'Hara. In researching O'Hara's life--and in writing my senior thesis on O'Hara's poetry the following year--I learned a fair amount about the poets of the so-called New York School; I even had the honor of meeting or speaking with fellow charter member Kenneth Koch, as well as Larry
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Jun 19, 2008
Matt
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Thanks to my useless college education, I had to discover these guys on my own. People gripe about David Lehman a lot (because of BAP I guess), but whatever. I had never even heard the term "New York School poets" before I read this, so it was pretty valuable. It made me go from a person who thought poetry was mostly boring to a person who thought "Whoa, I guess there's a lot of poetry I didn't even know about thanks to our useless education system. This other, new stuff I'm j
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Jan 28, 2008
Melzanie
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could not put down. read twice through. i love me some ny poets and their artistic counterparts. have sortamega crush on frank. sigh. all joking aside, what a wonderful, informative read about one of my particular favorite movements in the...ok so the only avant-garde movement in the us, but...they are fab.
Oct 28, 2007
Jim
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This book got me excited about contemporary poetry and introduced me to John Ashbery and Frank O'Hara. This book does a great job of setting up the attraction of the New York School and strikes a nice balance between discussions of biography and art.
Apr 13, 2008
Mari
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This is so fabulous, anyone who doesn't read it truly has an incomplete poetic education!
Dec 17, 2009
Tyler
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A necessary read for anyone wanting to know more about the NY school of poets.
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