Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Using Frank to get to Peter?

When I first posted the item immediately below this one, I had not yet read actual reviews, and so took it for granted that Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father and Me was primarily about the titular poet. That's certainly the way the New York Times' June 14 review approaches Ada Calhoun's book. But the June 17 review in the Washington Post suggests rather pointedly that the author's rage at her father's lifelong neglect, bordering on abuse, is her real subject: "My father never bought me Christmas presents. He did not know my teachers, my friends or my shoe size. ... I can't remember him once asking about my day, making me a snack or helping me with my homework." (Yikes!) That being the case, I'm rethinking my interest in nominating Also a Poet for our next reading list. But see what you think...


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