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It is true that he has been one of the inner circle of the 'Beats'
from the first, but many admirers of his poetry feel that it
belongs quite as much to other and older traditions in world
literature. One of these is the revival of pure poetry whenever an
"original"--be it Rimbaud or Whitman--has broken with current verse
conventions to give free rein to the magic of language. Another is
that ancient pre-occupation of poets--the sense of the immediacy of
death. Like Villon or Dylan Thomas, Corso lives close to the
mystery of death. It is, perhaps, his central theme, on which
variations ranging from the terrible to the comic are sounded. But
Corso is seldom macabre. A bursting vitality always carries him
back to the sensations of the living, though always it is the
reality behind the obvious which has caught his eye. "How I love to
probe life," Corso has written, "That's what poetry is to me, a
wondrous prober... It's not the metre or measure of a line, a
breath; not 'law' music; but the assembly of great eye sounds
placed into an inspired measured idea."
Gasoline & Vestal Lady on Brattle is volume number 8 in the
City Lights Pocket Series. "Open this book as you would a box of
crazy toys, take in your hands a refinement of beauty out of a
destructive atmosphere. These combinations are imaginary and pure,
in accordance with Corso's individual (therefore universal)
desire." --Allen Ginsberg "Gregory is a gambler. He suffers
reverses, like every man who takes chances. But his vitality and
resilience always shine through, with a light that is more than
human: The immortal light of his muse." --William S. Burroughs
"...A touch young kid from the Lower East Side who rose like an
angel over the rooftops and sang Italian songs as sweet as Caruso
and Sinatra, but in words...Amazing and Beautiful Gregory Corso,
The one and only Gregory the Herald. Read slowly and see."--Jack
Kerouac "[M]ore than fifty years on from when it was first
published in 1958, Gasoline (City Lights, 1958) by Beat poet
Gregory Corso is a seminal book in the birth of that particular
literary generation." --Paul Stubbs, 3AM Magazine Gregory Corso's
first book of poetry, The Vestal Lady on Brattle, was published by
City Lights Press in 1955. Born in New York City and raised in
Little Italy, Gregory Corso was an American Poet and the youngest
of the iconic Beat Generation writers. Homeless and family-less,
Corso was arrested at 13 for petty theft and larcenry and spent
some time in New York's infamous jail "The Tombs." He was arrested
again, but was admitted to Bellevue Hospital Center. On the night
of his 18th birthday, he was arrested again and convicted as an
adult, resulting in being detained in Clinton State Prison.
Gasoline is dedicated to "the Angels of Clinton Prison..." Corso
met Allen Ginsberg in 1951 and Ginsberg recognized Corso as
"spiritually gifted." Together they traveled from New York to San
Francisco to Paris where Corso wrote some of his most famous poems
Bombs and Marriage. His journey to, in, and around Paris resulted
in his third book of poetry which included poems The Happy Birthday
of Death, Minutes to Go, The American Express, and Long LIve Man.
He returned to New York in 1958 only to discover he and the other
Beat writers had become famous literary figures. Corso and Ginsberg
traveled to college campuses and read their famous works Howl and
Bomb and Marriage. On January 17, 2001, Corso died from prostate
cancer.
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Gasoline (Paperback)
Gregory Corso
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R428
R353
Discovery Miles 3 530
Save R75 (18%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Fabulous letters from the vagabond Beat poet to his friendsamong
them Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. For all his charm
and intelligence poet Gregory Corso lived a vagabond life. He never
held down a regular job. He rarely stayed very long under the same
roof. He spent long stretchessome as long as four or five
yearsabroad. Many of his letters came from EuropeFrance, England,
Germany, Italy, Sweden, Greeceas he kept in touch with his circle
of friendsamong them his best friend Allen Ginsberg and a steady
supporter, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He left (or was left by) a number
of girlfriends and he fathered five children along the way. He was
apt to raise a bit of a ruckus at poetry readings and other public
events. No one could be sure what he might do next except that he
would write poetry and get it published and that it would be widely
read. When the idea of a book of selected letters was first
proposed, Gregory had some reservations about it. Would the book
reveal too much of his private life? But then with typical hubris
he said the equivalent of "let it all hang out" and "all" does hang
out in An Accidental Autobiography. The book is indeed the next
thing to an unplanned self-portrait and gives a lively sense of the
life Gregory Corso led, marching to his own drummer and leaving in
his wake such marvelous books of Beat poetry as The Happy Birthday
of Death, Elegiac Feelings American, Long Live Man, and Herald of
the Autochthonic Spirit. Bill Morgan, who is extremely conversant
with the Beats, has done an admirable job collecting letters from
libraries and various individuals across the country and then
selecting and organizing them in a progression that spans Corso's
lifetime. In addition to Morgan's introduction and commentary, the
book includes a special foreword by poet and rock star Patti Smith
as well as a number of photographs.
Long live Man! sings the poet Gregory Corso-despite atom bombs and
computers, cold wars that get hot and togetherness that isn't, too
many cars and too little love...and in these poems he celebrates
the wonders (and the laughs and griefs) of being a man alive.
Whether he is musing on antic glories amid the ruins of the
Acropolis or watching a New York child invent games on the city's
sidewalks, Corso is there in it, putting us into it, with the magic
of vision, with the senses-awakening images, that transmute reality
into something more-insights that let us share his joy and echo his
shout of Long live Man!
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