Ron Padgett's Joe: A Memoir of Joe Brainard
UPDATE: Coincidentally, Chris Fischbach just emailed the news that Coffee House Press's summer sale is on. That means you can get Joe (or any of their other totally hot books--such as Ray McDaniel's Murder: A Violet or Anne Waldman's collected) for 35% off right now. Get thee to the web site.
UPDATE: Laughing aloud on the train reading this book, laughter of delight. It's not just about Joe, but also Ron, Pat, Ted, Kenward, Frank, Joe LeSeur, Warhol, et al. Deep reminiscences touched off by the grit and hunger pangs of the gang's early years in the Lower East Side, meals of happy-hour pretzels, walking blocks blocks blocks blocks blocks blocks blocks to work, feeling hickish in the big city, boozy woozy but minus the pills and Pepsi. (Yeah. I don't miss our own Ludlow Street days one bit, nor early Williamsburg either.)
Also suddenly amazing to me that I have shaken hands and raised glasses with a few of the folks. Gotta love New York, despite it all. This book is so personal, but not just because I identify so thoroughly. It is also the sweet way RP tells the story and how you can hear Pat chiming in from down the hall.
UPDATE: We've been contemplating a move out of the city (but within commutable distance!) and this book almost made me reconsider, reminding me of all the things about NYC I love (romanticized or not). If you are at all interested in the NY School generations of poets (or painters) it's a must-read, and it was the perfect follow up to the Berrigan sonnets.
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