January 10, 2009

Review by John Cunningham

WE MEET
by Kenneth Patchen

New Directions
80 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
ISBN: 978-0-8112-1758-3
2008, 304 pp., $18.95
www.ndpublishing.com


THE WALKING-AWAY WORLD
by Kenneth Patchen

New Directions
80 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
ISBN: 978-0-8112-1757-6
2008, 288 pp., $18.95
www.ndpublishing.com

Kenneth Patchen is an iconoclast. In the annals of American poetry, he is a true heretic. And if there are any religious images left standing in the realm of poetry, he has sought to topple them, to fragment them and to set them ablaze beneath his laser-like poetic gaze. In the process, he has influenced a great many who have sought to incorporate his unique style–a cross between Lewis Carroll and André Breton with a little bit of the showmanship of Fellini thrown in for good measure.

A brief bio: Patchen was born in Niles, Ohio, on December 13, 1911. Shortly after high school, he moved to Wisconsin. During this time, he sent a sonnet, “Permanence,” to the New York Times, who published it. In 1933, he married Miriam Oikemus who became his lift-long companion, helping him through the very difficult periods to follow. They lived in Greenwich Village for a while. In 1936, he published his first book Before The Brave. In 1937, during his stay in New York City, while helping a friend repair his car, Patchen suffered a spinal injury resulting in his experiencing severe pain for the rest of his adult life. This was compounded when, several years later, he was being taken for surgery when the orderlies dropped him from the stretcher resulting in his being bed-ridden for the rest of his life. He and Miriam moved to San Francisco where he became involved with Laurence Ferlinghetti and Kenneth Rexroth in the development of jazz poetry. He performed on several occasions with Charlie Mingus. During his lifetime, he published over 40 books before he passed away on January 8, 1972.

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