Huge Dreams by Michael Mcclure

Huge Dreams by Michael Mcclure

Huge Dreams republishes two books, out of print for thirty years, which together are a cornerstone of the Beat movement: The New Book/A Book of Torture and Star. Both were influential in expanding poetry into a larger world:the West Coast Beat phenomena, which focused on nature, the environment, antiwar activities, individual anarchism, Zen Buddhism, jazz, and a kind of romantic mystical thought. With these books Michael McClure brought an animal energy and a knowledge of art and physical human nature that was new to the scene.

The New Book/A Book of Torture was written spontaneously while McClure was in a "dark night of the soul" brought on by psychedelics. A single long poem of experience and exploration, it offers the means of liberation from the darkness it examines. Star is a wide-ranging book of chalice seeking, spiritual discovery, and political protest, grounded in the emotions and sensations of eros and play.

Michael McClure is a poet, playwright, musician, and novelist from the United States. He was one of the five poets who took part in the renowned 1955 Six Gallery reading, which featured the public debut of Allen Ginsberg's landmark poem Howl. After relocating from Kansas to San Francisco as a young man, he was one of the five poets who took part in the legendary 1955 Six Gallery reading, which featured the public debut of Allen Ginsberg's landmark poem Howl. McClure is memorialized in Jack Kerouac's novel Big Sur as Pat McLear, a prominent figure of the Beat Generation. His poetry is profoundly laced with an awareness of nature, especially in the animal consciousness that sometimes lies latent in people. He was a prominent character in the Beat Movement and the San Francisco Renaissance. A Guggenheim Fellowship, an Obie Award for Best Play, an NEA grant, the Alfred Jarry Award, and a Rockefeller grant for playwriting are among his many honors.

McClure is continuously active as a poet, writer, and dramatist, and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his second wife, Amy. McClure's poems, plays, and performances continue to find new audiences.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780140589177
ISBN 10	0140589171
Title	Huge Dreams
Author	Michael Mcclure
Series	Penguin Poets
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Random House Australia
Year published	1999-05-01
Number of pages	192
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.