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Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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A Coney Island of the Mind: Poems Paperback – January 17, 1968

by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (Author)

4.7 430 ratings

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The title of this book is taken from Henry Miller's "Into the Night Life" and expresses the way Lawrence Ferlinghetti felt about these poems when he wrote them during a short period in the 1950's—as if they were, taken together, a kind of Coney Island of the mind, a kind of circus of the soul.

Print length

96 pages
Language

English
Publisher

New Directions
Publication date

January 17, 1968
Dimensions

5.2 x 0.4 x 8.1 inches
ISBN-10

0811200418
ISBN-13

978-0811200417
Lexile measure

NP
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Pictures of the Gone World (City Lights Pocket Poets Series)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lawrence gets you laughing then hits you with the truth."
― Francis Ford Coppola

"A brave man and a brave poet."
― Bob Dylan

About the Author

In 1953 Lawrence Ferlinghetti cofounded City Lights, the first paperback bookstore in the United States, a Mecca for millions. His Coney Island of the Mind is one of the best-selling volumes of poetry by any living American poet. Born in Yonkers, New York, in 1919, Ferlinghetti has received the Robert Frost Memorial Medal and the first Literarian Award of the National Book Foundation.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Directions (January 17, 1968)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0811200418
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0811200417
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ NP
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.88 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.4 x 8.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #309,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #913 in American Poetry (Books)
- #1,958 in Poetry Themes & Styles (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.7 430 ratings

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Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and founder of City Lights Books, author of A Coney Island of the Mind and Pictures of the Gone World, among numerous other books, has been drawing from life since his student days in Paris where he frequented the Academie Julien and where he did his first oil painting.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

430 global ratings

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Valerie J

A Classic from the 60s

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2023

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This book was read by all growing up in the 60s. I bought this one for my son.

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Edd Anderson

I had one from early sixties that I lost or gave away...

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2014

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Other then the occasional Bohemian slang of the fifties, it still is as fresh as todays New York Times. Going through these verses took me back to days filled with youth, and the growing concern for where we would go and could we do any better than the last generation. This was a question that bothered many of the creative people during this time, certainly this was a type of hip poetry that reached a bit into the same bag as Ginsberg , Burroughs' and others of the "Beat Generation", the reason why this stayed fresher in my opinion, is it went beyond the hip to attract a whole audience to modern poetry.
I was fortunate in a sense to be exposed to poetry in an early age, my father and I both had played with poetry in are creative formative years. I am sure it was WW II that ended his writing as much as Vietnam War an the holocaust that it was amidst ended mine.
To anyone who may consider buying this work, this is a work that expanded Ferlinghetti's work to a new generation. It was cool enough for many in the 1960's bought it just to look cool as they walked through the halls of education.
"I know this much, that any society that pays more attention to it's politicos than poets is one that is doomed to decay and destruction." This last line may be something I read or wrote, at my age so many of these things merge, but I do believe it is worth consideration, as it this volume. Watch out, I plan to review other American Poet's.

11 people found this helpful

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unsworthyeti

Hey, it's Ferlinghetti!

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2022

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Nothing to dislike, everything to like. A poet who knows how to punch. What a joy rereading this of early "hip" years. I'm glad Ferlinghetti existed, that he wrote poetry, crafted it to a dantesque level of beauty, anointed it with intricacy and meaning. He gives worth to life.

6 people found this helpful

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KnitWit

Classic Ferlinghetti

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2020

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This was the book that introduced me to Ferlinghetti when I was in high school. My mom went to San Francisco to visit an old friend. Her friend took her to City Lights Bookstore and she bought this book in paperback, and I think Howl. She was telling me about the man who sold it to her. As she was describing him, I was looking at the photo of the author on the back of the book. Turns out, it was Ferlinghetti himself who sold it to her! If only she had known! I could have had an autograph. I still have the original, but this is a lovely little hardcover. Great book! I recommend it highly.

2 people found this helpful

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Darcy Infante Kimatian

Go to the Carnival

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2021

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Ferlinghetti rarely disappoints. A major figure during the period of Beat poets, he is truly an original. The book was inspirational in crafting my own work. RIP, Lawrence.

One person found this helpful

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simmons3d

Not a fan of poetry

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2009

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I personally am not a fan of poetry, but since I had recently become interested in Beat literature, I felt I must read this collection of poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The book is comprised of three sets of poems. In the first set is a rant against the absurdities of American culture. While I wouldn't consider myself an angry young man, I found this section to be quite refreshing.
The second set of poems, an Oral Message, is meant to be read aloud with jazz accompaniment. These were written in the 50's so it's sort of like a precursor to rap. I think I would have enjoyed this much more if I had seen it performed live.
The final 13 poems are from his first book and deal mostly with death.
Like I said I am not a huge fan of poetry, and most of these poems were case of hit or miss. Most enjoyed a great deal, some I didn't understand at all. Sometimes it was just a case of line or phrase that I found inspiring, but over all I really did enjoy this collection.

7 people found this helpful

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Steven R. Wallace

Beat poet of the Fifties

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2021

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When I first discovered Ferlinghetti, back in the Sixties, he was a sheer delight ("but the next morning, she had bad teeth and really hated poetry"). Somewhere along the line, this book disappeared from my shelf, and so now I've got it back and thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it.

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2013

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This book is the beginning of the beginning of the Beat Generation. Even though Ferlinghetti preferred to be considered a bohemian poet there is no denying his integral role in the upstart of the poetry of the Beat generation. It was Ferlinghetti whose City Lights publishing that published Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl and Other Poems' which almost got him in a lot of trouble as far as the whole obscenity trial. But what most peoele don't know is that it was Ferlinghetti's 'Pictures of the Gone World' and 'A Coney Island of the Mind', published before Ginsberg's 'Howl and Other Poems', that truly sparked the sea change in the literary world of the 1950s and forever.' I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the origins of Beat poetry. This amazing book is truly the beginning of the beginning.

12 people found this helpful

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