A monumental event in American poetry, Get the Money! brings
together the essential prose writings of iconic New York School
poet Ted Berrigan. "Ted Berrigan was a leader of the New York
School; his crazy energy embodied that movement and the city
itself."-John Ashbery, author of Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
"Get the Money!" was Ted Berrigan's mantra for the paid writing
gigs he took on in support of his career as a poet. This
long-awaited collection of his essential prose draws upon the many
essays, reviews, introductions, and other texts he produced for
hire, as well as material from his journals, travelogues, and
assorted, unclassifiable creative texts. Get the Money! documents
Berrigan's innovative poetics and techniques, as well as the
creative milieu of poets-centered around New York's Poetry
Project-for whom he served as both nurturer and catalyst.
Highlights include his journals from the '60s, depicting his early
poetic discoveries and bohemian activities in New York; the
previously unpublished "Some Notes About 'C,'" an account of his
mimeo magazine that serves as a de facto memoir of the early days
of the second-generation New York School; a moving and prescient
obituary, "Frank O'Hara Dead at 40"; book "reviews" consisting of
poems entirely collaged from lines in the book; art reviews of
friends and collaborators like Joe Brainard, George Schneeman, and
Jane Freilicher; and his notorious "Interviews" with John Cage and
John Ashbery, both of which were completely fabricated. Get the
Money! provides a view into the development of Berrigan's
aesthetics in real time, as he captures the heady excitement of the
era and champions the poets and artists he loves. Praise for Get
the Money!: "Get the Money! captures the esprit de corps of the
particular community close to Ted's door on St Mark's Place. This
book of prose with its nimble lift, tinged with intimacy, wit, and
perception is a welcome addition to the second generation NY School
canon. Ted often went hungry but could make a few dollars with the
short reviews. One walks the rounds with Ted on his 'beat': Love,
poetry, gossip, art. Telling it like it is. Strolling into artist
studios, galleries, poets' modest digs, and into our hearts."-Anne
Waldman, author of Trickster Feminism "Ted was my mentor, my
teacher of America and its poetry, and I often quote him. He was an
oral genius and I have regretted not writing down everything he
said to me. Now I have this collection of journals, critical
writing on art, aphorisms, and correspondence. It makes for a grand
portrait of the poet who charmed my whole generation. Ted Berrigan
is alive in this book in ways that no one could guess."-Andrei
Codrescu, author of Too Late for Nightmares "It's always a
significant occasion when we have an edition of a poets prose. Get
the Money! offers us an important window into Ted Berrigan's
laboratory, his no bullshit attitude, his class awareness, his
gorgeous sentimentality, and his disarming anarchic humor. This
book is what anyone could hope it would be: funny, tender,
brilliant, intimate, original, alive."-Peter Gizzi, author of Now
It's Dark "Ted Berrigan's voice has always been instantly familiar
to me so Get the Money! feels less like a reading experience and
more like taking a long walk with my favorite poet, then buying him
a drink someplace and letting him talk. The pieces collected here
offer a superhuman range of formal invention. ... Berrigan's prose
is often loose and lyrical, hovering somewhere between blogging,
letter writing, texting, and transcription. His deadpan bravura and
sudden dismissiveness are consistently hilarious. Decades after his
death Berrigan remains way ahead of his time. I think Robert
Creeley said it best, 'The Bell rings / Ted is ready'."-Cedar Sigo,
author of All This Time
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