dcmr's review against another edition
3.0
This is a most unusual book and I love that it defies categorization: sorta biography, sorta memoir, sorta literary caper.
The book both sags and soars.
The first half sags — and I nearly gave up — due to the excessive minutiae detailing the lives of Frank O'Hara and his circle of 1950s & 60s era poets and painters. He said, she said, blah blah blah.
The second half abandons the slog of details and expands into a story of father and daughter, asking, How do you love the people you love who also drive you crazy? Now, that's a theme I can sink into! Ada Calhoun is a great writer with excellent pacing. I tore through the second half, glued to every word.
The book both sags and soars.
The first half sags — and I nearly gave up — due to the excessive minutiae detailing the lives of Frank O'Hara and his circle of 1950s & 60s era poets and painters. He said, she said, blah blah blah.
The second half abandons the slog of details and expands into a story of father and daughter, asking, How do you love the people you love who also drive you crazy? Now, that's a theme I can sink into! Ada Calhoun is a great writer with excellent pacing. I tore through the second half, glued to every word.
mmchirdo33's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
grid's review against another edition
5.0
I rarely read book-length nonfiction, or memoirs. This is both.
I love Frank O’Hara, and seeing his name on the cover was definitely why I picked this up in the bookstore. I’m very glad I did.
Added later:
Here's the songs/mixtape from the back of the book: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLONG5XE6AplzRMKMO8v5iSb4V0WJJMtff
In the end, this definitely made me think about my own relationship with my child. Will they think back on me as distant or hard-to-connect with? I sure hope the answer is no.
There were lots of little asides or tidbits in this book that made me think, or feel like I’d leaned something. Two that come immediately to mind: the idea that Liz Phair’s _Exile in Guyville_ is a direct response to a similarly named Rolling Stones album (I had no idea!) — or the quote from the New York Times obit from which the title is taken.
While reading this, I looked up all the O'Hara poems referenced in it. I have The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara, and I'm absolutely certain I've never read it cover-to-cover, though I have previously called O'Hara my favorite poet, and I still occasionally call his _Autobiographia Literaria_ my favorite poem. I also own a copy of Lunch Poems, and I do think I've read all of it, though I grew annoyed at all the place and people references (which I've always found semi-annoying in both poetry and literature). _To the Harbormaster_ was a new-to-me poem, at least, as far as I can remember, but Calhoun references it several times, and I do appreciate its beauty.
Also a Poet is written in a very plain and approachable style. I know (from experience!) that it's much harder to write simply than you might imagine. So I would call this book very well written. The prose is not poetic, for the most part, but the contents very much are. The end of the book left me in a very contemplative state.
I love Frank O’Hara, and seeing his name on the cover was definitely why I picked this up in the bookstore. I’m very glad I did.
Added later:
Here's the songs/mixtape from the back of the book: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLONG5XE6AplzRMKMO8v5iSb4V0WJJMtff
In the end, this definitely made me think about my own relationship with my child. Will they think back on me as distant or hard-to-connect with? I sure hope the answer is no.
There were lots of little asides or tidbits in this book that made me think, or feel like I’d leaned something. Two that come immediately to mind: the idea that Liz Phair’s _Exile in Guyville_ is a direct response to a similarly named Rolling Stones album (I had no idea!) — or the quote from the New York Times obit from which the title is taken.
While reading this, I looked up all the O'Hara poems referenced in it. I have The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara, and I'm absolutely certain I've never read it cover-to-cover, though I have previously called O'Hara my favorite poet, and I still occasionally call his _Autobiographia Literaria_ my favorite poem. I also own a copy of Lunch Poems, and I do think I've read all of it, though I grew annoyed at all the place and people references (which I've always found semi-annoying in both poetry and literature). _To the Harbormaster_ was a new-to-me poem, at least, as far as I can remember, but Calhoun references it several times, and I do appreciate its beauty.
Also a Poet is written in a very plain and approachable style. I know (from experience!) that it's much harder to write simply than you might imagine. So I would call this book very well written. The prose is not poetic, for the most part, but the contents very much are. The end of the book left me in a very contemplative state.
essrich's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
4.5 stars. The book had a slow start for me, but by 1/3 of the way in I really enjoyed. I drew lots of comparisons between her relationship with her father and my relationship with my mother.
nbrickman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
lsvicente537's review against another edition
5.0
I’d never heard of Frank O’Hara, Ada Calhoun or Peter Schjeldahl before reading, but I loved it and now want to read more by all!