Sunday, March 16, 2008

Poetry as Insurgent Art - Ferlinghetti

My friend got me this for my birthday or Christmas. They're so close together it probably doesn't matter which. Unfortunately, after I started reading this, I lost it. It's the size of my hand and it was pretty easy to misplace. I found it last night in a fit of cleaning and finished reading it.

"From the groundbreaking (and betselling) A Coney Island of the Mind in 1958 to the "personal epic" of Americus, Book I in 2003, Lawrence Ferlinghetti has, in more than thirty books, been the poetic conscience of America. Now in Poetry As Insurgent Art, he offers, in prose, his primer of what poetry is, could be, should be. The result is by turns tender and furious, personal and political. If you are a reader of poetry, find out what is missing from the usual fare you are served; if you are a poet, read at your own risk—you will never again look at your role in the same way."

I enjoyed this book although it was radically different than what I normally read. There were several statements I ended up underlining because they were that good.

"Question everything and everyone, including Socrates, who questioned everything. Question "God" and his buddies on earth."

It's a different book that really encourages you (even if you're not a poet) to go out and let your voice be heard, change the world and how people think.

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