A 17th-century “Friendship Book”—basically a kind of autograph book that was popular in European courts at that time—recently sold at auction for $3.1m. That feels like a lot of Benjamins for a 400 year-old scrapbook, even if, “The friendship book contains about 100 signatures from powerful rulers, each accompanied by colorful illustrations commissioned from court […]
Tag Archives: jack kerouac
No Through Trail: Cold Mountain Review
Thursday, July 27, 2017
In the late eighth or early ninth century, Chinese poet Han-shan penned twenty-seven poems centered on Cold Mountain. As a philsopher, he is claimed by Buddhists and Taoists alike, although he poked a wry finger in the ribs of both. As a poet, he was adopted by the Beats: Gary Snyder translated the Cold Mountain […]
The Statue of Liberty Is a Redhead
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Every time a poem gets rejected, another angel gets its wings. Or something like that. In his acclaimed poem “Howl,” Beat poet Allen Ginsberg claimed the energetic books of Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, and Neal Cassady were all “published in Heaven.” Luckily for today’s poets, Heaven is a place on Earth. Redheaded Stepchild literary magazine […]