Tour cities: New York, NY, Boston, MA, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, Chicago, IL, Ann Arbor, MI, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Boulder, CO, Tulsa, OK Radio: we will be scheduling interviews and readings on: Bookworm, Leonard Lopate's New York & Company, All Things Considered, and with NPR affliates in tour cities Internet promotion: Both Ron Padgett and Joe Brainard have well-trafficked websites: and BookSense: galleys will be available through Advance Access Serial rights: We will try to place pre-publication excerpts in The New Yorker and BOMB
Ron Padgett remembers the life and times of his friend, the brilliant artist Joe Brainard.
Paperback
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
Tour cities: New York, NY, Boston, MA, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, Chicago, IL, Ann Arbor, MI, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Boulder, CO, Tulsa, OK Radio: we will be scheduling interviews and readings on: Bookworm, Leonard Lopate's New York & Company, All Things Considered, and with NPR affliates in tour cities Internet promotion: Both Ron Padgett and Joe Brainard have well-trafficked websites: and BookSense: galleys will be available through Advance Access Serial rights: We will try to place pre-publication excerpts in The New Yorker and BOMB
Ron Padgett remembers the life and times of his friend, the brilliant artist Joe Brainard.
Description
"When someone we love dies, most of us do something to keep them from completely vanishing. We summon up memories of them, we talk about them, we visit their graves, we treasure photographs of them, we dream about them, and we cry, and for those brief moments they are in some way with us. But when my friend Joe Brainard died, I knew I was going to have to do something beyond all these."
So begins Ron Padgett's warm, conversational memoir-the unlikely and true story of two childhood friends, one straight and one gay, who grew up in 1950s Oklahoma, surprised their families by moving to New York City in search of art and poetry, and became a part of the dynamic community of artists and writers whose work continues to shape American culture.
Much of this intimate memoir is told in Joe's own direct and unforgettable voice. Dozens of letters, journal entries, poems, photographs, and artworks create a stirring portrait of the times-one that illuminates not only Joe Brainard's life and art, but the influence that his kindness and insight had on the lives of his contemporaries, including Alex Katz, Andy Warhol, Frank O' Hara, Joe LeSueur, Anne Waldman, John Ashbery, Kenward Elmslie, and countless other friends, lovers, and admirers.
As Ron Padgett generously shares his memories, he allows us all to get to know Joe Brainard, a truly great person who just happened to be a brilliant artist and poet. Above all, Joe is a gentle reminder that love, life, and art matter every second.
Poet Ron Padgett, the son of an Oklahoma bootlegger, grew up in Tulsa where he met Joe Brainard at the age of 6. His recent books include the memoir, Oklahoma Tough: My Father, King of the Tulsa Bootleggers and the collection of poems You Never Know.
Critic Reviews
"Part biography, part memoir, Ron Padgett's "Joe" is a deeply moving and tender portrait of one of the most original artists and writers who ever graced the New York scene. Ten years after Joe Brainard's death, we need this book to remember the man who remembered everything, who followed his own unique path into the hearts of those who loved and continue to love his work. And who better to tell this story than poet Ron Padgett, Brainard's fellow Tulsan and lifelong friend? The book he has written is a precious gift to all of us."--Paul Auster
About the Author
Ron Padgett is a celebrated translator, memoirist, and "a thoroughly American poet, coming sideways out of Whitman, Williams, and New York Pop with a Tulsa twist" (Peter Gizzi). His poetry has been translated into more than a dozen languages and has appeared inThe Best American Poetry, The Norton Anthology of Postmodern American Poetry, The Oxford Book of American Poetry, and on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac. He was also a guest on Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion in 2009. Padgett is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and his most recent books include HOW LONG, HOW TO BE PER
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