Poet Be Like God
Subtitle: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco renaissance
By: Lewis Ellingham and Kevin Killian.
Contributors: Killian, Kevin.
Publisher: Published by University Press of New England [for] Wesleyan University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Hanover, N.H
Language: eng
Number of pages: 439
Subjects: Spicer, Jack; Duncan, Robert Edward, 1919-  -- Friends and associates; Blaser, Robin -- Friends and associates; Homosexuality and literature -- California -- Berkeley -- History -- 20th century; American poetry -- California -- Berkeley -- History and criticism; Poets, American -- 20th century -- Biography; Gay men -- United States -- Biography; Berkeley (Calif.) -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
Description: Jack Spicer, unlike his contemporaries Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder, was a poet who disdained publishing and relished his role as a social outcast. He died in 1965 virtually unrecognized, yet in the following years his work and thought have attracted and intrigued an international audience. Now this comprehensive biography gives a pivotal poet his due.

Based on interviews with scores of Spicer's contemporaries, Poet Be Like God details the most intimate aspects of Spicer's life - his family, his friends, his lover - illuminating not only the man but also many of his poems. The resultant narrative of the San Francisco Renaissance and the emergence of the North Beach gay scene during the 50s and 60s will be indispensable reading for students of American literature and gay studies.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [377]-[418]) and index.