Starting from San Francisco
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
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The third collection of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poetry.Tags
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The second volume in my Ferlinghetti read-everything-by-him-on-my-shelf read-a-thon memorial. It hit me while reading this that many of his poems are lists, litanies, and/or laments. They can sometimes drag a little, but, oh, when they work...One of my favorites here is "Tentative Description of a Dinner to Promote the Impeachment of President Eisenhower." Yep.
Dig back into this guy. If greatness equals good writing by longevity, Ferlinghetti wins. Longer poems this time. More engaged. And accurate - "One Thousand Fearful Words for Fidel Castro" never came to pass, barely. And wide ranging - "Tentative Description of a Dinner to Promote the Impeachment of President Eisenhower" (longer titles too) has a central concern that was THE concern of that time and later. And it is not about the president we inducted at a mausoleum. "The Situation in the West Followed a Holy Proposal" became the call to arms (yuk, yuk) for the hippies.
Ferlinghetti can make you see things by the rhythm he uses. And he can put the right word where it belongs, often inventing them. On a train "Dingding crossroads flicker show more by". He has fun with words - "clay mobile" and "Klee mobile." He loves writing and playing and I am so glad he continues. show less
Ferlinghetti can make you see things by the rhythm he uses. And he can put the right word where it belongs, often inventing them. On a train "Dingding crossroads flicker show more by". He has fun with words - "clay mobile" and "Klee mobile." He loves writing and playing and I am so glad he continues. show less
Starting from San Francisco is one of Ferlinghetti's more read books behind Coney Island and probably his worst-received by critics and fans alike. His cut-up style is almost entirely gone, making room for more general free-verse (intended to flow better when spoken to accompanied jazz--although his all his poems are pretty much intended for jazz-readings, Uncle Lawrence seems to stress it with these)...and I admit, some of the poems contain a few bumps, especially early on: "chorus" lines get a little too repetitive in poems like "New York--Albany" and especially "Big Fat Hairy Vision of Evil" (which ends quite well once past the "evil evil evil evil evil evil evil" [exaggeration]), and two of the more political pieces haven't aged so show more well but aren't bad ("Tentative Description of a Dinner to Promote the Impeachment of President Eisenhower" and "One Thousand Fearful Words for Fidel Castro"), but hey! IT CONTAINS "THE GREAT CHINESE DRAGON"!!!!!!111!!11!!!11111111
The entire book is worth a purchase for containing that one poem. All alone. It's that good. And long. On the surface, similar to Ginsberg's "Howl," but golly gee willickers, these "breaths" are just too dang long!
Otherwise I'd post it.
The book contains 16 poems over 64 pages. It's pretty short, but the poems somewhat long for Uncle Lawrence. Some notable classics include but are not limited to: "The Situation in the West, Followed by a Holy Proposal," "Berlin," "Special Clearance Sale of Famous Masterpieces," "Overpopulation," the title poem, and "He," his little ditty for Ginsberg, which, shockingly enough, contains the word "asshole."
F.V.: 80% (possibly 75--I go too easy on pomes, 'specially from any Beat-related figure).
[105] show less
The entire book is worth a purchase for containing that one poem. All alone. It's that good. And long. On the surface, similar to Ginsberg's "Howl," but golly gee willickers, these "breaths" are just too dang long!
Otherwise I'd post it.
The book contains 16 poems over 64 pages. It's pretty short, but the poems somewhat long for Uncle Lawrence. Some notable classics include but are not limited to: "The Situation in the West, Followed by a Holy Proposal," "Berlin," "Special Clearance Sale of Famous Masterpieces," "Overpopulation," the title poem, and "He," his little ditty for Ginsberg, which, shockingly enough, contains the word "asshole."
F.V.: 80% (possibly 75--I go too easy on pomes, 'specially from any Beat-related figure).
[105] show less
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147+ Works 6,653 Members
Lawrence Ferlinghetti was born Lawrence Monsanto Ferling in Yonkers, New York on March 24, 1919. He received a B. A. from the University of North Carolina, a M. A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D from the Sorbonne. During World War II, he served in the U. S. Naval Reserve and was sent to Nagasaki shortly after it was bombed. In 1953, he and show more Peter Martin began to publish City Lights magazine. They also opened the City Lights Books Shop in San Francisco to help support the magazine. In 1955, they launched City Light Publishing, which became known as the heart of the "Beat" movement. Ferlinghetti is the author of more than thirty books of poetry including Time of Useful Consciousness, Poetry as Insurgent Art, How to Paint Sunlight, A Far Rockaway of the Heart, Over All the Obscene Boundaries: European Poems and Transitions, Who Are We Now?, The Secret Meaning of Things, and A Coney Island of the Mind. He is also the author of more than eight plays and of the novels Love in the Days of Rage and Her. He has translated the work of a number of poets including Nicanor Parra, Jacques Prevert, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. He received the lifetime achievement award from the National Book Critics Circle in 2000, the Frost Medal in 2003, and the Literarian Award in 2005, presented for "outstanding service to the American literary community." He was named the first poet laureate of San Francisco in 1998. He writes a weekly column for the San Francisco Chronicle. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Starting from San Francisco
- Original publication date
- 1961
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- 332
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- Reviews
- 3
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- Languages
- English
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- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 10
