Book Review: 'The Best Minds,' by Jonathan Rosen - The New York Times
In “The Best Minds,” Jonathan Rosen pieces together how he and his brilliant classmate diverged after Long Island, Yale and enviable careers.
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In “The Best Minds,” Jonathan Rosen pieces together how he and his brilliant classmate diverged after Long Island, Yale and enviable careers.
At 92, the poet and environmentalist Gary Snyder has lived an extraordinary life—from birthing the Beat Generation with fellow writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg to winning the Pulitzer Prize for his book "Turtle Island," which has been described as a “poet’s love lyrics to planet Earth,” and even inspiring the release of the Pentagon Papers. With two new major anthologies out, this former UC Davis professor is proving that he still has a lot to teach us all.
“The virtual banishment of figuration and narrative from the vocabulary of so many thoughtful artists was one of the legacies of the modernists,” he said. “I never accepted this.”
In the late sixties, Ginsberg began taping many of his public appearances, as well as his casual and private conversations. He used the recordings to compose his greatest work.
An exhibition of drawings by a forgotten Bay Area artist is a feat of curating, reminding us that museums can a still shine a light on remarkable work.