The First Time I Met Frank O'Hara: Reading Gay American Writers
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.23 (526 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1568582722 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 208 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-12-07 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Although not all of Whitaker's favorite books are written by homosexuals, many — all included here — are. This "Wittgenstein- and Freud-quoting" hustler is at core a thinker—and a voracious reader, one who has written book reviews for The New York Times and The Washington Post. Black-and-white photographs are also featured.. Linked essays on gay writers include Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Hart Crane, Gertrude Stein, Frank O'Hara, and David Wojnarowicz . In The First Time I Met Frank O’Hara, Whitaker discusses the books that have altered his perception and influenced the way he conducts his life. Those who first met Rick Whitaker through his unrepentant memoir know that he was not a typical prostitute. These sexual outsiders share what Whitaker calls a “gay sensibility”: they describ
. From Publishers Weekly Frank O'Hara-whose acquaintance Whitaker made through his poetry, not in person-is just one of the gay, lesbian and homoerotic writers Whitaker (Assuming the Position: A Memoir of Hustling) pays homage to in this literary scrapbook of essays combining biography, accessible literary criticism and personal memoir. Whitaker infuses biographical information and literary analysis with his personal reminiscences in an effort to underscore the writers' relevance to readers seeking a kind of life-affirming guidance, or "techniques for becoming and being oneself." The author points to Thoreau's Walden, for example, as a paradigm for living a life free of cultural demands and expectations. "Man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone," writes Thoreau, and for Whittaker, this includes living a life free of "gambling" and "taking drugs for fun." Though his writing can be
"An interesting survey to some queer and near-queer writers" according to Charles S. Houser. Early on in this collection of enjoyable and highly engaging essays, Whitaker admits that he is laying before us the gay and lesbian authors he has been drawn to. This is a personal essay, not a Gay Lit 101 textbook. Consequently, some major gay American writers are not included: David Leavitt, Christopher Bram, Edmund White, Christopher Isherwood, Tennes. Fascinating and easily accessible I. Sondel In 1990 some friends and I formed a book group to read books by and or about gay people. The guys often kid me about being the facilitator, steering committee and publicity chairman (I piece together a monthly newsletter). Our goal has been to discover our gay roots - our hidden history. Throughout the past four years primarily (though obviously I've been. A very good intro to great writers I started this book with increasing reservations, wondering what this neophyte writer could say about the canon standards like Whitman and Thoreau and eventually decided: not much. But as the book progressed and Whitaker was on more contemporary turf, his comments became more insightful, more personal and more discerning. His thoughts on Jane Bowles, Glen