The Evergreen Review Reader: 1967 -1973 [Paperback]

Barney Rosset (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Evergreen Review , Vol 3 | Publication Date: February 1999

From its first issue in 1957 to its final in 1973, Evergreen Review was hailed as one of the most provocative magazines ever. The bible for a generation of radicals and freethinkers, Evergreen championed Beckett and Brautigan, erotica and liberal activism, with an in-your-face attitude that confronted and challenged the conventions of the day. Edited by Evergreen's founder and publisher, Barney Rosset, this selection represents the best of the magazine's final years - 1967 through 1973 - a politically and socially tumultuous time that included such pivotal events as the assassinations of Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Che Guevara, the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and the massacre at Mylai. Complete with 100 photographs from the original magazine, Evergreen Review Reader has the historical relevance and literary muscle to speak to a new generation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This second of a two-volume collection devoted to the literary journal that doubled as the house magazine of the Grove Press in the 1960s and '70s includes a dazzling array of writing, recalling an era when radical politics and experimental art seemingly affected every area of life. Rosset was sole editor of the Evergreen Review throughout its 15-year life, displaying an amazing range. Writers were drawn to his commitment; for famous writers, Evergreen also offered the opportunity to experiment, as evidenced here by a Tom Stoppard short story and poems from Pete Hamil and Tennessee Williams (this one a gem). The nonfiction includes an essay by Vivian Gornick, an interview with John Cassavetes and firsthand reports from Vietnam, the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago and the Columbia University riots. In addition to fiction and plays, there is poetry by everyone from Karl Shapiro and Muriel Rukeyser to Baraka, Ginsberg and Bukowski. A broad range of international writers are represented, some who would go on to much greater fame: Jean Genet, Cesar Vallejo, Kenzaburo Oe, Vaclav Havel. Finally, there are reprints of key texts by Castro, Guevera and Malcolm X?and even Woody Allen's guerrilla satire, "Diary of a Revolutionary." Rosset consistently drew controversy?the Evergreen offices were bombed by anti-Castro militants in 1968, occupied by unionists and feminist activists in 1970 and even targeted by the CIA?but he never backed down. Rosset and his publications did get their due, however, when, in 1988, Grove and Evergreen were awarded the PEN biennial Publisher's Citation for fostering "the freedom and dignity of artists." This sprawling anthology clearly demonstrates that Evergreen's epoch-making achievement in literature justifies such recognition. (Feb.) FYI: Rosset is at the helm at the new cyberspace incarnation of the Evergreen Review, www.evergreenreview.com.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The Black Man Is Making New Gods by Amiri Baraka
Black People! by Amiri Baraka
Leroy by Amiri Baraka
Listening To Sonny Rollins At The Five-spot by Paul Blackburn
September, 1903 by Constantine P. Cavafy
Rant, From A Cool Place by Diane Di Prima
Back Roads To Far Towns After Basho by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
History Of The World: A Tv Docu-drama by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Beginning Of A Poem Of These States by Allen Ginsberg
Chances R by Allen Ginsberg
Memory Gardens by Allen Ginsberg
Five Songs Of China: 1. The Vase by Nicolas Guillen
Five Songs Of China: 3. Chinese Song In Two Voices by Nicolas Guillen
Five Songs Of China: 3. Song Of Wang Tse-yu by Nicolas Guillen
Five Songs Of China: 4. First Of October by Nicolas Guillen
Five Songs Of China: 5. Song Of Return by Nicolas Guillen
An American Bird by Pete Hamill
Boston Road Blues by David Henderson
Game Life, London 1967 (to Colin Macinnes) by Calvin C. Hernton
Blues For Sister Sally by Lenore Kandel
Ode On The Death Of Che Guevara by Marco Antonio Montes De Oca
Capriccio To Djuna by Michael O'donoghue
Bill's Burnoose by Frank O'hara
A Chardin In Need Of Cleaning by Frank O'hara
A Hill by Frank O'hara
An Image Of Leda by Frank O'hara
Bunk Johnson Blowing by Muriel Rukeyser
Four Months After The Breakdown by Michael Rumaker
Lenny Bruce by Ron Seitz
Aubade by Karl Shapiro
'nobody Operates Like An Ibm Machine' by Patsy Southgate
Jomo by J. Anthony Stowers
The Native Abroad (to Earl Anderza) by J. Anthony Stowers
Zanj by J. Anthony Stowers
Black Stone On A White Stone by Cesar Vallejo
Height And Hair by Cesar Vallejo
The Soul That Suffered From Being Its Body by Cesar Vallejo
The Starving Man's Rack by Cesar Vallejo
Young Men Waking At Daybreak by Tennessee Williams
Some Recent Fiction by Albert James Young
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568581106
• ISBN-13: 978-1568581101
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,967,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)