Comments on: D.A. Levy and William S. Burroughs

By: Caspar

Caspar — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 18:56:35 +0000

I’m (as usual) very late here. Just here to clarify that in British slang “oily rag” was British rhyming slang for “fag”, meaning cigarette. Nothing else. Not being snarky – a good piece.

By: Daurade

Daurade — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 14:50:10 +0000

Thanks for this insightful essay. Levy is scandalously under-appreciated and it’s nice to read more about how he fits into the wider currents of the 60’s literary counterculture. The Smith and Swanberg book is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in not just Levy but the literary scene of the 60’s. I can’t recommend Golden’s book without reservation. It does reproduce The Tibetan Stroboscope, which a good thing….and great amount of Levy’s poetry is included….but it’s been typeset for the book and doesn’t present it as Levy originally published it. For a typical poet, this wouldn’t really be problematic, but for a poet whose preoccupation with the medium itself, how it appears on the page, a lot is lost. On the other hand, there are some nice color reproductions of collages. Golden approaches the collages differently than the poems….I don’t think he understood, as you do here, that the visual appearance of the text: typewritten, blotchy, on colored paper, is part of the work….I think it would have been better to scan the originals and present them that way. I could be wrong but that’s my 2 cents. Still, given the paucity of books about Levy, it’s worth a read.

By: markk

markk — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:05:48 +0000

nicely written. those of us here in cleveland keeping levy’s memory alive appreciate your nicely nuanced piece on levy by way of burroughs.

By: D.R. Wagner

D.R. Wagner — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:39:17 +0000

As I recall, levy was not anti-Burroughs at all. He admired the work and spoke warmly of him. I know we were both influenced by the cut up stuff because we were working on the edges of communication -the end or near end of words.

By: Jack Crimmins

Jack Crimmins — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:54:25 +0000

Jed, thanks for your articles on d.a. levy. While I don’t know his work well, I’ve always thought Gary Snyder’s essay, “The Dharma Eye of d.a. levy”, originally published in Snyder’s book of essays, “The Old Ways”, (City Lights Books, 1977), was a good introduction. I notice the essay is now on the net at http://www.thing.net. Also, a good site for viewing some beautiful d.a. levy broadsides, and books, is Verdant Press; http://www.verdantpress.com. These are books and broadsides made recently by Jason Davis at Verdant. Most seem out of print but a quick search of abebooks.com shows some are available from booksellers. Jeff Maser, the Berkeley bookseller who’s well connected with Verdant Press, just gave me a recent d.a. levy broadside from Bottle of Smoke Press. Folks are out there keeping d.a. levy’s work moving about in the world. Thanks again.