The Journal of Albion Moonlight [Paperback]

Kenneth Patchen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 1961

A chronicle of violent fury and compassion, written when Surrealism was still vigorous and doing battle with psychotic "reality," The Journal of Albion Moonlight is the American monument to engagement.

Kenneth Patchen sets off on an allegorical journey of his own in which the far boundaries of love and murder, madness and sex are sensually explored. His is the tale of a disordered pilgrimage to H. Roivas (Heavenly Savior) in which the deranged responses of individuals point up the outer madness from which they derive in a more imaginative way that social protest generally allows.

Like Camus, Kenneth Patchen is anti-cool, anti-hip, anti-beat.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972) was one of the most prolific American poets of his time. He was born in Niles, Ohio. He attended school at the University of Madison-Wisconsin where he met his wife, Miriam Oikemus. They moved to Greenwich Village and befriended many writers including E.E. Cummings, Anais Nïn, and Henry Miller. An accident occurred after his first publication that would eventually leave him an invalid. He and his wife later moved to San Francisco during the early years of the Beat Movement. Many Beat poets would cite Patchen as a major influence. His "experimental protests" in poetry, painting, and prose remain unprecedented. Aside from his many books of poetry, his acclaimed novels, and his concrete visual works, Kenneth Patchen also collaborated with John Cage for the radio-play The City Wears a Slouch Hat, and worked with Charles Mingus developing jazz poetry. Patchen was an unwavering pacifist and many of his works have a political bent. Patchen was the first recipient of an NEA Literary Grant in 1967.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: New Directions (January 17, 1961)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811201449
• ISBN-13: 978-0811201445
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #308,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Patchen Destroys "Books", June 18, 2001

By 

Donald Ford ([e-mail]) (Lavina, Montana United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Journal of Albion Moonlight (Paperback)

This "novel" is more of a primitive, surreal, hallucinatory, dream-like rage against WW2 & mankind's hatred in general than a standard book. Form gets tossed out the window, and this does make the book a bit of a struggle at times, but that's just the point. It shouldn't be easy to understand another man's feelings & it isn't easy getting Patchen's. This book is definately not for everyone, and I'd almost say "read the last half of the book first if you wanna get it from the get-go." It took me a few weeks to read this, reading several other things while mulling over parts of this "journal", but I'm glad I stuck with it & kept thinking about it. It's a very powerful work that crackles like a thundercloud. Just don't expect a straightforward novel. That ain't what this is...

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary, poetic, and challenging anti-war novel., November 10, 1998

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Journal of Albion Moonlight (Paperback)

This novel contains some of the most compelling images I have ever read. It is a measure of Patchen's courage that he wrote it at the height of WWII--not a popular time for anti-war activism. The depth of his thinking about pacifism emerges in this novel on every level. Patchen was a lifelong scholar and student of the works of William Blake and it shows: "Moonlight" challenges us not only in content but in form as well, using metaphor and image to create a powerful non-linear world of story and thought. Kenneth Patchen's work is beginning to experience a resurgence, and I would suggest buying this novel (along with Kenneth's love poetry) if you want to discover this great American poet.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get This Book, October 31, 2011

By 

Levy - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Journal of Albion Moonlight (Paperback)

This book changed my life. I can't tell you exactly how, but I wasn't the same afterward. I had never seen a book written with such searing honesty, such naked vulnerability, such savage and wild howling at the insanity that was engulfing the planet in 1940.

Get this book. If you love poetry, if you love language, if you love passionate expression and beauty...get it. Patchen was like no one else. That's why Henry Miller wrote about him in an essay called "Kenneth Patchen: Man of Anger & Light."