Jarrell, Randall

Losses

New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1948. First Edition. Hardcover. When it comes to The Beat Generation, most Beat readers-&-enthusiasts will think of Gregory Corso upon hearing the name Randall Jarrell (1914-1965), American poet, literary critic, and onetime Poet Laureate of the United States (1956-58, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower). The reason for this connection is the infamous, sitcom-like segue of events in which the young, abrasive, brown-bag toting Corso was taken on as a "wayward mentee of-sorts" to Jarrell, an esteemed-&-established “literary elder.” The young Corso--distinct from the lugubrious rancor which marked his mid-life and twilight years, did not seek out Jarrell solely as a means to extract unofficial "grants" by way of bloodsucking financial dependence. Jarrell was a legitimate influence on Corso's poetry, as evidenced in Corso's own work—and was touched by Jarrell’s estimations that only he was of any worth when it came to those oft-bearded barbarians at the literary gates, the Beats. Despite whatever positive intentions may have been present at the beginning of the relationship, Jarrell's mental instability and the young Corso’s decidedly Dionysian “Kicks-at-All-Costs”-attitude made for quite a toxic pairing. The story goes that the belligerent, wine-blitzed appearances of Jack Kerouac—who had a knack for bringing out the wildness in Corso—became too much for his “nervous disposition,” and he had to break off his mentorship of Corso. "Losses," published by the venerable Harcourt, Brace and Company in 1948, was Jarrell's third volume of verse, the successor volume to 1942's "Blood for a Stranger" (New York, NY: Harcourt, 1942) & 1945's "Little Friend" (New York, NY: Dial, 1945). Jarrell also earned the blessing of the iconoclastic Clement Greenberg, famed Art Critic and principled contrarian, who provided the following endorsement for “Losses.” "Randall Jarrell has the talents, the sensitivity, the wisdom and almost everything else that the good fairy can give. He is one of the most intelligent persons writing in English at the moment." Hardcover in unrestored, clipped dust-jacket; First Edition (as stated on copyright page). Book in fine condition with only slightest shelf-wear to fine-edges; tiny-though-pronounced instance of rubbing at leftmost fine-edge of front cover near center-middle. Clipped, unrestored dust-jacket in Poor-Fair condition, with significant shelf-wear, chipping, spotting throughout; moderate rubbing to same. Fine / Poor-Fair. [Item #4729]

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