When I Was Cool (35 page)
Authors: Sam Kashner
S
AM
K
ASHNER
is the author of three nonfiction books and one novel,
Sinatraland,
and is a frequent contributor to
Vanity Fair
and
GQ.
He divides his time between New York and Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife, the writer Nancy Schoenberger.
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RAISE
FOR
When I Was Cool
“Spirited and generousâ¦. Half the time you pity young Sam, the other half you envy himâ¦plenty of downright magical moments.”
â
New York Times Book Review
“Engaging [and] illuminating.”
â
San Francisco Chronicle
“Quick, funnyâ¦. Despite the frequent humor in
When I Was Cool
Kashner's memoir never feels belittling or like a betrayal of the Kerouac School faculty; rather it serves as an inspired footnote to literary lives of unquestionable esteem and influence.”
â
Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Fond, funny, and finally heartbreaking.”
â
Village Voice
“Enticing vinegary Burroughs out of his orgone box to care for his son, keeping rowdy Corso as straight as possible, completing and typing moody Ginsberg's poems while calculating the sexual permutations would tax the abilities of any apprentice bard, especially one carrying his father's credit card. It was scary certainly, attending those mythic Olympians, heroes passing into hipsters or junkies. And it was clearly wonderful.”
â
Kirkus Reviews
“Kashner's tome brings these men into a sharper, less romantic focus. But this clarity doesn't destroy their works, only allows one to see a little deeper into their creation.”
â
San Diego City Beat
“Hilarious and touching.”
â
Newsday
“A memoir worth some howling.”
â
Entertainment Weekly
“As their first (and for a while only) student, Kashner's assignments included finishing and typing Allen Ginsberg's poetry; preventing Gregory Corso from scoring heroin; cleaning the home of their guru, Rinpoche; and mediating between William Burroughs Sr. and Jr., not to mention attending the off lectureâ¦. Were this justa saga of an innocent in Beat Bohemia, Kashner's chronicle would be merely amusing, but his genuine love for his crazy-wise mentors makes this a curiously affecting coming-of-age story.”
â
Publishers Weekly
“[Kashner] generously allows his heroes to speak for themselves, revealing all the fears, weaknesses, and brilliance of flesh-and-blood people.”
âEsquire.com
“[Kashner is] an honest, sensitive, and funny storyteller, a perceptive observer who sheds light and shares discovery with his readers. His memoir is about enlightenment, the kind that comes from looking back with compassion but with eyes wide open.”
â
Booklist
“His portrayal of [the Beats'] wild escapades contains incidents that will surprise you, as well as descriptions of lives not always fulfilled that will leave you almost in tears.”
â
Dallas Morning News
“Kashner's first-hand portrait of William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Ginsberg in their latter years offers a fascinating counterpoint to the myths and legends these men developed over the years. Kashner's quick-paced and efficient style successfully conveys this eventful time when he lived amongst the aging hipsters. That it is delivered by someone with genuine affection for them gives the figures a real humanity.”
â
Las Vegas Weekly
“Frequently humorous, often touchingâ¦more than just Kashner's coming-of-age taleâ¦[
When I Was Cool
] is an ode to the poets who inspired him.”
â
Daily Camera
(Boulder)
N
ONFICTION
A Talent for Genius: The Life and Times of Oscar Levant
(with Nancy Schoenberger)
Hollywood Kryptonite: The Bulldog, the Lady,
and the Death of Superman
(with Nancy Schoenberger)
The Bad & the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties
(with Jennifer MacNair)
F
ICTION
Sinatraland: A Novel
P
OETRY
Driving at Night
No More Mr. Nice Guy
(with drawings by Glen Baxter)
Don Quixote in America
“Come Rain or Come Shine,” by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen © 1946 (Renewed) Chappell & Co. Rights for Extended Renewal term in U.S. assigned to The Johnny Mercer Foundation and SA Music. All rights o/b/o The Johnny Mercer Foundation administered by WB Music Corp. All rights outside the U.S. controlled by Chappell & Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission Warner Bros. Publications U.S. Inc., Miami, FL 33014.
Gregory Corso, excerpt from “I Miss My Dear Cats” from
Gasoline
. Copyright © 1958 by Gregory Corso. Reprinted with the permission of City Lights Books. Excerpts from “I Met This Guy Who Died,” “For Miranda,” “Ancestry,” and “Columbia U Poesy Readingâ1975” from
Herald of the Autochthonic Spirit
. Copyright © 1973 by Gregory Corso. Reprinted with the permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation. Excerpt from “Army” from
The Happy Birthday of Death
. Copyright © 1960 by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Reprinted with permission.
Diane Di Prima, excerpts from “Three Laments,” and “Song for Baby-O, Unborn” from
Pieces of a Song
. Copyright © 1990 by Diane Di Prima. Reprinted with the permission of City Lights Books.
Allen Ginsberg, dedication from
Kaddish and Other Poems 1958â1960
. Copyright © 1961 by Allen Ginsberg. Reprinted with the permission of City Lights Books. Excerpts from “Love Returned,” “Father Death Blues,” “Pussy Blues,” “Punk Rock Your My Big Crybaby,” “Lack Love,” “Howl,” “Gospel Noble Truths,” “Why Is God Love, Jack?” from
Collected Poems 1947â1980
. Copyright © 1984 by Allen Ginsberg. Reprinted with the permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc. and Penguin Books Ltd. Excerpts from
Spontaneous Mind: Selected Interviews 1958â1996
, edited by David Carter. Copyright © 2001 by the Allen Ginsberg Trust. Reprinted with the permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Excerpt from “Put Down Your Cigarette Rag (Don't Smoke)” from
Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986â1992
. Copyright © 1994 by Allen Ginsberg. Reprinted with the permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc. and Penguin Books, Ltd.
Jack Kerouac, excerpts from “211th Chorus” from
Mexico City Blues
(New York: Grove, 1959). Copyright © 1959 by Jack Kerouac. Reprinted with the permission of Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.
Peter Orlovsky, excerpts from “Lepers Cry” from
Clean Asshole Poems & Smiling Vegetable Songs
. Copyright © 1978 by Peter Orlovsky. Reprinted with the permission of City Lights Books.
Anne Waldman, excerpt from “Fast Speaking Woman” and poem about Allen Ginsberg, from
Helping the Dreamer: New and Selected Poems 1966â1988
. Copyright © 1989 by Anne Waldman. Reprinted with the permission of the author and Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
William Butler Yeats, excerpt from “A Prayer For Old Age,” from
The Poems of W. B. Yeats: A New Edition
, edited by Richard J. Finneran. Copyright © 1933 by Macmillan Publishing Company, renewed © 1961 by Bertha Georgie Yeats. Reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and A. P. Watt, Ltd., on behalf of Michael Yeats.
WHEN I WAS COOL
. Copyright © 2004 by Sam Kashner. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © MAY 2007 ISBN: 9780061873034
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