[Item #4875] Carnivorous Saint with: Ephemera. Harold Norse.
Carnivorous Saint with: Ephemera
Carnivorous Saint with: Ephemera
Carnivorous Saint with: Ephemera
Carnivorous Saint with: Ephemera

Carnivorous Saint with: Ephemera

ISBN: 0917342550
San Francisco, CA: Gay Sunshine Press, 1977. First Softcover Edition. Softcover. "CARNIVOROUS SAINT, a pioneer work spanning 4 decades of erotic gay poems, is the first book of its kind by a major American poet. Norse has developed his own style and vision, "an anguished Whitman reversed, sharing something of Whitman's sense of an encompassing vision. His energies are both Boschian and calming, wild and controlled...a first-rate talent," writes Robert Peters. In his rebellion against the regimentation of life and sex, Norse sees gay, bi and straight as an expression of the basic natural force- love- thwarted and criminalized by society. These astonishing sex/love poems, full of pain and rage, often leavened by biting humor, document a heroic struggle for honesty against hypocrisy...raw poetry of lightening power that splits open dark areas of feeling...brutally frank...intensely alive and compassionate." (from back cover) An indeed historically pioneering compendium of poems by Harold Norse (1916-2009), the great Beat-&-Beyond poet who was a friend & colleague of everyone from W.H. Auden to William S. Burroughs (the latter an especially strong influence since their co-residency at the legendary "Beat Hotel" in Paris during the late 1950s- early 1960s). With many explicitly homoerotic illustrations throughout, including collages by Norse, a drawing by Joe Brainard & various ancient, historic images. Trade-format first softcover edition published simultaneously with a hardcover edition, presumed first printing with no reference to further printings on copyright page. From the collection of Erin Black Matson, the artist-poet who, along with her then-husband the acclaimed poet & educator Clive Matson, was a member of the Beat Generation as it morphed into the hippie counterculture in 1960s. The Matson were colleagues & protégés (in lifestyle as much as literature) of Herbert Huncke, Bonnie & Ray Bremser, Diane di Prima et al.- undoubtedly they also at least crossed paths with Norse, who really got around over a long & prolific career. Found & retained in this copy are some interesting pieces of Erinian Ephemera: Several sheets with Erin's hand-written commentary & title of this volume, once part of her hand-folded personal dust jacket of brittle pulp paper which is significantly browned, stained & crumbling- nevertheless Erin's writings are fairly intact thereon. Also present is a vintage bookmark from "The BookShop" in Woodstock, NY near where Erin resided, in near-fine condition with moderate browning & spotting on printed recto & blank verso. A landmark collection; a key & quite scarce rarity by one of our favorite figures. Please write "Harold Norse" into our search engine to see our many of his collectibles, solo & in contribution; as well as "Robert Peters"(1924-2014, quoted above), another among our foremost prolific-&-underappreciated writers. The relatively good condition of this item reflects its long ownership & use by Erin, who was a tried-&-true Beat-Bohemian to the end: Moderate rubbing, scratching & creasing to front, back covers & spine; mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; one short, mostly closed tear at blank black upper edge of front cover near right corner with minimal loss of paper; medium rubbing & esp. spotting to edges of text block. Interior good-to-near-fine with moderate browning, spotting & light staining to inner covers, endpapers & first, last few page leaves thereafter & preceding; sparse spotting & miniscule bleedings from text-block spots noted above onto mostly blank margins/ edges of some leaves; very light residual stains at blank lower side margins of last 30-or-so of same. Good. [Item #4875]

Price: $80.00