Crowded By Beauty - The Life and Zen of Poet Philip Whalen

Philip Whalen was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and key figure in the literary and artistic scene that unfolded in San Francisco in the 1950s and '60s. When the Beat writers came West, Whalen became a revered, much-loved member of the group. Erudite, shy, and profoundly spiritual, his presence not only moved his immediate circle of Beat cohorts, but his powerful, startling, innovative work would come to impact American poetry to the present day.

Drawing on Whalen's journals and personal correspondence-particularly with Ginsberg, Kerouac, Snyder, Kyger, Welch, and McClure -David Schneider shows how deeply bonded these intimates were, supporting one another in their art and their spiritual paths. Schneider, himself an ordained priest, provides an insider's view of Whalen's struggles and breakthroughs in his thirty years as a Zen monk. When Whalen died in 2002 as the retired Abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center, his own teacher referred to him as a patriarch of the Western lineage of Buddhism. Crowded by Beauty chronicles the course of Whalen's life, focusing on his unique, eccentric, humorous, and literary-religious practice.

About the author

David Schneider is the author of Street Zen: The Life and Work of Issan Dorsey. He was ordained as a Zen priest in 1977 and was made an acharya of the Shambhala lineage in 1995.

Summary

Philip Whalen was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and key figure in the literary and artistic scene that unfolded in San Francisco in the 1950s and '60s. When the Beat writers came West, Whalen became a revered, much-loved member of the group. This book deals with his life and work.

Additional text

"Crowded by Beauty serves as a reminder that among all the celebrity and cachet of rebelliously prescient intellects, the one most radical in his approach to American poetry has been overlooked."

Product details

• Authors: David Schneider, Schneider David
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.07.2015
• EAN: 9780520247468
• ISBN: 978-0-520-24746-8
• No. of pages: 352
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Other religions; Non-fiction book > History > Biographies, autobiographies; USA, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, Biography: historical, political & military, LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, RELIGION / Buddhism / Zen, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, United States of America, USA, Zen Buddhism, Literary studies: from c 1900 -, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, Biography: historical, political and military, Literary studies: poetry and poets, c 1945 to c 2000 (Post-war period)