Crowe, Thomas Rain; Nusbaum, Arthur S.; Provenzano, Joe

Starting From San Francisco: Thomas Rain Crowe in Conversation with Third Mind Books

ISBN: 9780692130773
Ann Arbor, MI: Third Mind Books, 2018. First Edition. Hardcover. Signed by Contributors (incl. Thomas Rain Crowe, the co-authorial founder of the Second San Francisco Renaissance). "The seismic cultural impact of Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs was followed by a series of aftershocks. 'Starting from San Francisco' measures a vital instance of this natural process, the circle of aspiring poets around poet and publisher Thomas Rain Crowe and the resurrected Beatitude magazine in the 1970s who used a small-press explosion to sustain and move beyond what their predecessors had inspired. The format here is interview and with the commitment of one who was there and considerable sincerity, Crowe explores the dimensions of a flourishing literary excitement that deserve to be better known. the result is a singular history." (John Tytell , author of "Naked Angels; The Lives and Literature of the Beat Generation," [New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1976]). Based off Third Mind Books founder Arthur S. Nusbaum's acclaimed presentation at the 2017 European Beat Studies Network Conference in Paris, France, this publication contains the full untold story of the Second San Francisco Renaissance and the Baby Beat Generation, which encompasses and exceeds the bird's eye view revealed in Nusbaum's expansive presentation. On August 4th, 2018, Third Mind Books collaborated with The Beat Museum in San Francisco, holding a book launch and poetry reading for this publication, in which many of this epoch's participants took part. To quote the esteemed Beat-&-Beyond scholar (and our other blurb contributor) David Stephen Calonne, "For those who think that they already know all there is to know about Beat Literary history, this book will provide many illuminating surprises." This is the rarest of all eligible copies on account of its provenance — (see notation below), — as well as its actual primacy, with regards to the limitation at colophon. It’s not enough to say that this was “from the Archive of Thomas Rain Crowe,” — because that would imply it sat with the rest of his materials, most of which date back to the height of SSFR activity and influence (which would of course be incorrect). First published in 2018, this is the copy we gifted to Crowe — the very first copy in the print run of 26 as pulled from the box the day we got them. As such, it presents an unparalleled opportunity for the collector of San Francisco Renaissance-related materials. Available here is the defining assembly of reprinted materials from the archive — a work which, along with that done by Mathias de Breyne in France in 2005 — saved the SSFR from near-total obscurity, or perhaps “a never-ending sense of Critical “little-brotherhood,’” — a fate of being ‘kept apart’ from what Gregory Corso called the Beat Generation’s “Daddies,” on purpose (and without regard to merit & impact). While the work was certainly intended, in part as a primer for those who do scholarship in the humanities, it was also integrally published “in brothersisterhood / for all our sakes,” — just like the poem by the other co-authorial founder of the Second San Francisco Renaissance, Neeli Cherkovski (1945-2024; “tom”) in the first suite of pages lays bare. From the archive of Thomas Rain Crowe [b. 1949], the legendary American poet and co-authorial founder of the Second San Francisco Renaissance. For more information on the Thomas Rain Crowe archive (assembled & curated by Third Mind Books), see our book, Starting from San Francisco: Thomas Rain Crowe in Conversation with Third Mind Books (Item No. 3071) & the catalog for the Crowe archive (Item No. 1010), which contains several excerpts and quotations from the book as well as a full listing of the archive’s contents, which are now being offered for sale individually on the Third Mind Books site. Trade-format hardcover in illustrated boards: one of “26 Signed & Lettered copies hardbound in boards,” per colophon. As advertised, the lettered, limited edition was signed at the time of publication by its triumvirate of contributors: [1] our interview subject, Thomas Rain Crowe; [2] , the Founder, President, and Publisher of Third Mind Books, Arthur S. Nusbaum; & [3] Nusbaum’s protégé, Third Mind Books’ VP, Joe Provenzano. TRC’s signature, in thin, black pen ink, reads: “TRCrowe.” Nusbaum’s signature, in thin, blue pen ink, reads: “Arthur S. Nusbaum.” Provenzano’s signature, in thin, green pen ink, reads: “Joe Provenzano.” In very fine condition, virtually as new with only slightest shelf-wear to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge — the rarest of all possible copies as seemingly unblemished, today as it was when we got it from the printer! Very Fine. [Item #7356]

Price: $100.00