Customer Reviews

An Accidental Autobiography: The Selected Letters

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This book fills in great holes in Corso's biography. Not only do we get an account of major periods of his adulthood, but for the first time his childhood is explored. The letter to his father is especially revealing. A major biography still needs to be done of this poet, among America's most important poets, and almost certainly the most important surrealist poet America has produced. It is especially interesting to see earlier drafts of now famous poems. The drafts are not nearly as good as the finished works, which to my mind proves that Corso was a conscious artist, and not the naif that he is often portrayed. Corso said the most important part of writing a poem was the editing. This voluminous group of letters probably gives first drafts of something like eighty poems. They are nowhere close to the hard sharp brilliance of the finished works. This book is indispensable to anyone who likes Corso's poems. It offers a very revealing insight into the biographical background. I am still hoping an excellent biography will come forth, and especially one that deals with the Catholic church, and Corso's foster families. Sadly, many of the people that Corso knew are dying off, so this project looks more and more remote with each passing year.