1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gay love and poetry, May 28, 2008
This review is from: Straight Hearts' Delight: Love Poems and Selected Letters, 1947-1980 (Paperback)
As a gay man, I like the fact that this is basically a whole book of gay love poetry.
However, some of the poems can be crude, and they aren't for a sensitive or prudish (yes, some gay guys are prudish, I'm not one of them, but they are out there). I liked these poems because I like Allen Ginsberg, however, if you really like Ginsberg, you probably already own the complete collection of his poetry, so clearly there is nothing new here by Ginsberg. What you're buy here that you won't find in his collected works are the poems written by his boyfriend, Peter. And, they're interesting. Clearly, he wasn't one of the great poets of the 20th Century, so he shouldn't be judged in the same breath as Ginsberg. But, Peter's poems are just as innovative and avant-guard as Ginsberg's (perhaps more? - he did write one of them as he was orgasming).
If you are a huge fan of gay literature, then you should get this book. If you're just a passing fan of Ginsberg, though, I'd pass it up.
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