The Life and Times of an Involuntary Genius

by Andrei Codrescu

1975 first printing, hardcover. Tight straight spine. Pages, boards and dustjacket are in overall near mint condition with only a few spots of light shelf rubbing to outer board edges in spots and some dust spots to top outer page edges from storage. Jacket protected in brand new clear plastic protective cover!

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Andrei Codrescu is a poet, novelist, essayist, and NPR commentator. His many books include Whatever Gets You through the Night, The Postmodern Dada Guide, and The Poetry Lesson. He was Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009.

Reviews

[Jon Jorstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't enjoy Codrescu's first memoir as much as his humorous NPR commentaries, probably because he doesn't follow any memoir rules (no surprise), and many details of his life in Romania are as abstract and strange as his poetry. You wonder how much is truthful and how much is myth. Poetic license, as he might say. Writing in the third person also gave him freedom to reinvent himself.

I sense that he has regrets about his early life, as he often mentions paths not taken, or fictional stories about them. Regrets are not uncommon, and it’s refreshing for him to expose them.