{"product_id":"an-accidental-autobiography-the-selected-letters-of-gregory-corso-9780811215350","title":"An Accidental Autobiography: The Selected Letters of Gregory Corso","description":"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 \u003ci\u003eAn Accidental Autobiography\u003c\/i\u003e. 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Happy Birthday of Death, Elegiac Feelings American, Long Live Man, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHerald of the Autochthonic Spirit.\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gregory Corso,Bill Morgan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Directions Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/17\/2003\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 466\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.52lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.98h x 6.07w x 1.36d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811215350\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2003 pg. 200\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSmith, Patti:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003ePatti Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e is a poet, performer, visual artist, and author of \u003cem\u003eM Train\u003c\/em\u003e and the National Book Award-winning memoir \u003cem\u003eJust Kids\u003c\/em\u003e. She has twelve albums, has had numerous gallery shows, and continues to give concerts of her music and poetry. Her books include \u003cem\u003eEarly Work\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Coral Sea\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWitt, Babel, Auguries of Innocence\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWoolgathering\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLand 250\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eTrois\u003c\/em\u003e, and many others. In 2022, Smith was awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize by the Poetry Foundation in recognition of her outstanding lifetime achievement. She lives in New York.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCorso, Gregory:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eGregory Corso\u003c\/strong\u003e (1930-2001) was abandoned by his mother a month after his birth at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York. Growing up in foster care and on the streets of Little Italy, Corso was a juvenile delinquent who spent time in Clinton Correctional Facility, in the cell recently vacated by gangster \"Lucky\" Luciano. An aspiring poet, Corso was taken under the wing of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, and became the youngest member of the Beat Generation's inner circle, with whom he lived and work in the Beat Hotel, a lodging house in Paris, during the late fifties. There he created one of his signature works, \"Bomb\", a poem composed of typewritten strips of paper arranged in the shape of a mushroom cloud. Late in life, Corso became reunited with his mother and maintained a close relationship with her until his death.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New Directions Publishing Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44411357921395,"sku":"9780811215350","price":27.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/files\/img_908eeea9-e958-43cb-91f3-ae37f8620957.jpg?v=1772026550","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/an-accidental-autobiography-the-selected-letters-of-gregory-corso-9780811215350","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}