The First Time I Met Frank O'Hara: Reading Gay American Writers [Hardcover]

Rick Whitaker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2003

Those who first met Rick Whitaker through his unrepentant memoir know that he was not a typical prostitute. This "Wittgenstein- and Freud-quoting" hustler is at core a thinker—and a voracious reader, one who has written book reviews for The New York Times and The Washington Post. In The First Time I Met Frank O’Hara, Whitaker discusses the books that have altered his perception and influenced the way he conducts his life. Although not all of Whitaker's favorite books are written by homosexuals, many — all included here — are. Linked essays on gay writers include Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Hart Crane, Gertrude Stein, Frank O'Hara, and David Wojnarowicz . These sexual outsiders share what Whitaker calls a “gay sensibility”: they describe without describing, show while hiding, and sing while keeping silent. Black-and-white photographs are also featured.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Frank O'Hara-whose acquaintance Whitaker made through his poetry, not in person-is just one of the gay, lesbian and homoerotic writers Whitaker (Assuming the Position: A Memoir of Hustling) pays homage to in this literary scrapbook of essays combining biography, accessible literary criticism and personal memoir. Each of the selected writers exhibits a gay sensibility, Whitaker writes, which he defines as "original and fresh...clever, scornful of laws, introspective, energetic, and sexy...with a degree of irony, and wit; and...almost always a background of melancholy." Of 19th-century writers who fulfill these criteria, Whitaker "broods on" Thoreau ("proto-gay"), Melville (who had a "powerfully homoerotic" imagination), Whitman, Dickinson and the flamboyant Fitz-Greene Halleck. The author groups Oscar Wilde into a section entitled "The Gay Century" (the 20th century), along with Gore Vidal, Andrew Holleran, James Baldwin and David Wojnarowicz. Poet Henri Cole and travel writer Tobias Schneebaum, a personal friend of Whitaker's, exemplify "The New Century," an era of assimilation for gays and lesbians. Whitaker infuses biographical information and literary analysis with his personal reminiscences in an effort to underscore the writers' relevance to readers seeking a kind of life-affirming guidance, or "techniques for becoming and being oneself." The author points to Thoreau's Walden, for example, as a paradigm for living a life free of cultural demands and expectations. "Man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone," writes Thoreau, and for Whittaker, this includes living a life free of "gambling" and "taking drugs for fun." Though his writing can be incongruously confessional ("I've been drawn to older men (some of them much older) since my teens") and vague ("Everyone in a gay culture strives to be unique in a particular, emphatic way"), Whitaker nevertheless offers a collection of literary observations and musings that may be refreshingly germane to both gay and straight readers who have "suffered the vicissitudes of difference."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows (September 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568582722
• ISBN-13: 978-1568582726
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,721,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and easily accessible, February 1, 2004

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I. Sondel "I. Sondel - lover of the arts" (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First Time I Met Frank O'Hara: Reading Gay American Writers (Hardcover)

In 1990 some friends and I formed a book group to read books by and or about gay people. The guys often kid me about being the facilitator, steering committee and publicity chairman (I piece together a monthly newsletter). Our goal has been to discover our gay roots - our hidden history. Throughout the past four years primarily (though obviously I've been reading all along), I have read a great deal of fiction, poetry, biography and history written by and/or about gay people. Perhaps because of my own trek through gay literature, I found Rick Whitaker's book enthralling. His observations are keen. His choice of writers and individual works are fresh and his writing is accessible. You don't have to be familiar with each of the writers discussed to appreciate Whitaker's take on their work. The fact that I have read, or at least heard of most of, the material discussed here only increased my appreciation for this truly remarkable little book. God bless you Rick for drawing our attention to James Purdy and Jane Bowles and Frank O'Hara and Glenway Wescott. Perhaps your book will inspire your readers to seek out books by these authors. Well done.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting survey to some queer and near-queer writers, November 9, 2003

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Charles S. Houser (Binghamton, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First Time I Met Frank O'Hara: Reading Gay American Writers (Hardcover)

Early on in this collection of enjoyable and highly engaging essays, Whitaker admits that he is laying before us the gay and lesbian authors he has been drawn to. This is a personal essay, not a Gay Lit 101 textbook. Consequently, some major gay American writers are not included: David Leavitt, Christopher Bram, Edmund White, Christopher Isherwood, Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers, Truman Capote. Lesbian representation is slight--just Emily Dickinson (near queer, at that), Jane Bowles, and Gertrude Stein. And one slot was taken up by a writer who isn't even American (Oscar Wilde).

What's nice about Whitaker's writing, though, is that it is disciplined and thoughtful. He allows us glimpses of himself (it is safe to assume that part of his disdain for Gore Vidal, the man, derives from Whitaker's own experiences as a prostitute serving aloof, self-important clients as described in his memoir ASSUMING THE POSITION). But this authorial intrusiveness is occassional, is refreshingly honest and forthright, and never veers into self-indulgence.

While I might quibble with some of his assessments (Is Andrew Holleran's DANCER FROM THE DANCE really the generational equivalent of Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY?), quibbling is half the fun of reading literary criticism. I share his high regard for O'Hara, was glad to learn a little about Gertrude Stein as a writer (most critics usually write about her as a mentor to other writers), and am intrigued enough by his discussions of Glenway Wescott, Bowles, David Wojnarowicz, and Henri Cole to seek out copies of their works.

No explanation is given of the captionless photographs by Iannis Delatolas that illustrate this volume. In some cases their subject is obvious (one is of Frank O'Hara's grave, others are of living writers, such as John Ashberry), in other cases their subjects evoke the characters and settings these gay authors wrote about. Whatever their purpose, they're a nice addition.

Whitaker has produced another interesting book on gay culture and lifestlye. I look forward to seeing what he'll do next.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good intro to great writers, October 19, 2003

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Charlus "charlus" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The First Time I Met Frank O'Hara: Reading Gay American Writers (Hardcover)

I started this book with increasing reservations, wondering what this neophyte writer could say about the canon standards like Whitman and Thoreau and eventually decided: not much. But as the book progressed and Whitaker was on more contemporary turf, his comments became more insightful, more personal and more discerning. His thoughts on Jane Bowles, Glenway Wescott, Gore Vidal are very smart and reveals ideas buried within their work in a very convincing way. The writing is always lucid and even when not particularly brilliant, entertaining. Ultimately a very good place to start when approaching gay writing (or even, for that matter, a good place to end up).