Holmes, John Clellon

Passionate Opinions: The Cultural Essays of John Clellon Holmes

ISBN: 1557280509
Fayetteville, AR: The University of Arkansas Press, 1988. First Softcover Edition. Softcover. Inscribed, dated & signed to Richard Cupidi by a fellow bookseller. “Those big elms stirring in the summer wind; that little depot platform on Long Island where the rails glinted in the late-morning sun back toward New York; those other discharges waiting quietly there near the gum machines, oddly self-absorbed, quits now with the immense, chaotic event that had held us all together; that canvas bag containing everything I owned–the ludicrous Jack Tar duds that condemn a man to looking like a boy, and a couple books, You Can’t Go Home Again, and Mrs. Dalloway (after six months of night duty on ambulatory wards, I was down to the Ws in my self-imposed reading program); the unsettling realization that I might be anywhere that night, just anywhere the hours took me; consciousness of a beginning—Behind me, the ornate stuccoed 1920s Lido Beach Hotel, now, in the mid-forties, a Navy discharge center, its lounges full of bored gobs waiting the last wait of their war, its verandas stacked with already obsolete gear, its lawns trampled by months of final musters. It seemed impossible that the chock of croquet balls, the clink of ice against good crystal, and the delicious laughter of tanned women would ever again echo there in the long, orange twilights of whatever kind of peace had come. I was nineteen, medicaled out for chronic migraine, and I didn’t care. Whatever world there would be was down the rails.”--John Clellon Holmes, “Clearing the Field,” pg. 7-8. John Clellon Holmes (1926-1988) was an American author, poet and professor, best known for his 1952 novel Go (1952). Considered the first Beat novel, Go depicted events in his life with his friends Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), Neal Cassady (1926-1968) and Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997). He was often referred to as the "quiet Beat" and was one of Kerouac's closest friends. Holmes also wrote what is considered the definitive jazz novel of the Beat Generation, The Horn (1958). Offered today is the 1988 collection of essays Passionate Opinions: The Cultural Essays. The third and final volume of collected essays by the distinguished writer and chronicler of the Beat Movement, Passionate Opinions traces from the jazz scene of New York in 1945 to the state of contemporary fiction in 1986. The essays tell the story of one of America's most vibrant, troubled eras--the post-war years. Dark, introspective, humorous, insightful, and downright Beat, Passionate Opinions is a work that should, nay, must be read by any and all fans of Beat literature and cultural insight. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed friend in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England for founder Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding productions by William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see for example our item no. 8217). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler died in short order. Cupidi went on to found the Public House Bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining treasures of Unicorn & Public House, some of which have become the stuff of myth. Signed, dated & inscribed to Richard Cupidi by Michael Neal–manager at the legendary Village Voice Bookshop in Paris, France, founded by Odile Hellier–in thin black ink at title page: “For Richard Cupidi of the Public House / Bookshop / From Michael Neal of the Village Voice / Bookshop / August 2011 / [undiscernable].” Trade-Format Softcover. First softcover edition, first printing as indicated by number sequence at copyright page. Book in relatively very fine condition with moderate wear to fine edges, minor smudging/scratching to front and back covers, and slight discoloration due to age-toning to interior throughout as well as front and back covers. Very Fine. [Item #8558]

Price: $60.00