Philip Whalen – författare

Like his college roommate Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen took both poetry and Zen seriously. He became friends with Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Michael McClure, and played a key role in the explosive poetic revolution of the '50s and '60s. Celebrated for his wisdom and good humor, Whalen transformed the poem for a generation. His writing, taken as a whole, forms a monumental stream of consciousness (or, as Whalen calls it, "continuous nerve movie") of a wild, deeply read, and fiercely independent American—one who refuses to belong, who celebrates and glorifies the small beauties to be found everywhere he looks. This long-awaited Selected Poems is a welcome opportunity to hear his influential voice again.

The literary journals of a key figure in both the Beat and San Francisco Renaissance movements of the New American Poetry, and an ordained Zen Buddhist priestPhilip Whalen (1923–2002) authored twenty collections of verse, more than twenty broadsides, two novels, a huge assemblage of autobiographical literary journals, nine or ten experimental prose works, and dozens of critical essays, lectures, commentaries, introductions, prefaces, and interviews. But he came to regard his literary journals as his most important prose legacy.Whalen’s literary work represents a significant turn in American letters, as he and his closest colleagues immersed themselves in East Asian literature and religion, reinvigorating strikingly new linguistic and aesthetic paths for North American writers and artists. However, until now Whalen’s forty-plus years of journals—sixty small eight-by-six-inch notebooks—have been largely inaccessible, archived in the rare book and manuscript library at the University of California, Berkeley, undigitized and unavailable online. Thus, the publication of a critical scholarly edition of Whalen’s journals and notebooks constitutes an important literary event and an invaluable resource for scholars, teachers, poets, and lay readers who follow twentieth-century North American poetry.

The literary journals of a key figure in both the Beat and San Francisco Renaissance movements of the New American Poetry, and an ordained Zen Buddhist priest

Philip Whalen (1923–2002) authored twenty collections of verse, more than twenty broadsides, two novels, a huge assemblage of autobiographical literary journals, nine or ten experimental prose works, and dozens of critical essays, lectures, commentaries, introductions, prefaces, and interviews. But he came to regard his literary journals as his most important prose legacy.

Whalen’s literary work represents a significant turn in American letters, as he and his closest colleagues immersed themselves in East Asian literature and religion, reinvigorating strikingly new linguistic and aesthetic paths for North American writers and artists. However, until now Whalen’s forty-plus years of journals—sixty small eight-by-six-inch notebooks—have been largely inaccessible, archived in the rare book and manuscript library at the University of California, Berkeley, undigitized and unavailable online. Thus, the publication of a critical scholarly edition of Whalen’s journals and notebooks constitutes an important literary event and an invaluable resource for scholars, teachers, poets, and lay readers who follow twentieth-century North American poetry.  

Like his college roommate Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen took both poetry and Zen seriously. He became friends with Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Michael McClure, and played a key role in the explosive poetic revolution of the ''50s and ''60s. Celebrated for his wisdom and good humor, Whalen transformed the poem for a generation. His writing, taken as a whole, forms a monumental stream of consciousness (or, as Whalen calls it, "continuous nerve movie") of a wild, deeply read, and fiercely independent American—one who refuses to belong, who celebrates and glorifies the small beauties to be found everywhere he looks. This long-awaited Selected Poems is a welcome opportunity to hear his influential voice again.

Modern France: A History in Documents is an unrivalled stand-alone resource that introduces students to French history, literature, and culture through a collection of over 250 primary sources made up of images, maps and, mainly, documents, many of which are translated into English here for the first time.The eleven main chapters focus on pivotal moments in modern French history, ranging from the collapse of the Old Régime and the outbreak of the French Revolution to contemporary struggles concerning identity and inclusion in France’s postcolonial present. Each chapter provides a succinct overview of the period and a generous selection of readings touching on the following interrelated themes and topics:* Authority, sovereignty, and autonomy* Labor, class, and revolt* Gender, race, and identity* Religion, sexuality, and toleranceEvery chapter is supplemented by timelines, questions for discussion and up-to-date recommendations for further reading. The editor, Philip Whalen, provides both a general introduction and chapter specific introductions and the book includes a varied assortment of longer sources and shorter snippets. There is also a healthy mix of documents authored by lesser-known individuals and towering figures in French history and culture, such as Montesquieu, Louis XVI, Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, Proust, Baudelaire, George Sand, Robespierre and Simone de Beauvoir, to give you a rounded understanding of how France has evolved since the late 18th century.

Modern France: A History in Documents is an unrivalled stand-alone resource that introduces students to French history, literature, and culture through a collection of over 250 primary sources made up of images, maps and, mainly, documents, many of which are translated into English here for the first time.The eleven main chapters focus on pivotal moments in modern French history, ranging from the collapse of the Old Régime and the outbreak of the French Revolution to contemporary struggles concerning identity and inclusion in France’s postcolonial present. Each chapter provides a succinct overview of the period and a generous selection of readings touching on the following interrelated themes and topics:* Authority, sovereignty, and autonomy* Labor, class, and revolt* Gender, race, and identity* Religion, sexuality, and toleranceEvery chapter is supplemented by timelines, questions for discussion and up-to-date recommendations for further reading. The editor, Philip Whalen, provides both a general introduction and chapter specific introductions and the book includes a varied assortment of longer sources and shorter snippets. There is also a healthy mix of documents authored by lesser-known individuals and towering figures in French history and culture, such as Montesquieu, Louis XVI, Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, Proust, Baudelaire, George Sand, Robespierre and Simone de Beauvoir, to give you a rounded understanding of how France has evolved since the late 18th century.

French Historians 1900-2000: The New Historical Writing in Twentieth-Century France examines the lives and writings of 40 of France’s great twentieth-century historians. Blends biography with critical analysis of major works, placing the work of the French historians in the context of their life stories Includes contributions from over 30 international scholars Provides English-speaking readers with a new insight into the key French historians of the last century

Place and Locality in Modern France analyses the significance and changing constructions of local place in modern France. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars from around the world, this book provides a timely overview of the cross-disciplinary thinking that is currently taking place over a central issue in French history.The contributed chapters address a range of subjects that include:the politics of administrative reform, decentralization, regionalism and local advocacy; the role of commerce in engendering narratives and experience of local place;the importance of ethnic, class, gender and race distinctions in shaping local connection and identity;the generation and transmission of knowledge about local place and culture through academia, civic heritage and popular memory. As a reconsideration of the ‘local' in French history, Place and Locality in Modern France bridges the divide between micro- and macro-history for all those interested in ideas of locality and culture in modern French and European history.

Place and Locality in Modern France analyses the significance and changing constructions of local place in modern France. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars from around the world, this book provides a timely overview of the cross-disciplinary thinking that is currently taking place over a central issue in French history.The contributed chapters address a range of subjects that include:the politics of administrative reform, decentralization, regionalism and local advocacy; the role of commerce in engendering narratives and experience of local place;the importance of ethnic, class, gender and race distinctions in shaping local connection and identity;the generation and transmission of knowledge about local place and culture through academia, civic heritage and popular memory. As a reconsideration of the ‘local' in French history, Place and Locality in Modern France bridges the divide between micro- and macro-history for all those interested in ideas of locality and culture in modern French and European history.

Place and Locality in Modern France analyses the significance and changing constructions of local place in modern France. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars from around the world, this book provides a timely overview of the cross-disciplinary thinking that is currently taking place over a central issue in French history.The contributed chapters address a range of subjects that include: the politics of administrative reform, decentralization, regionalism and local advocacy; the role of commerce in engendering narratives and experience of local place; the importance of ethnic, class, gender and race distinctions in shaping local connection and identity; the generation and transmission of knowledge about local place and culture through academia, civic heritage and popular memory. As a reconsideration of the ''local'' in French history, Place and Locality in Modern France bridges the divide between micro- and macro-history for all those interested in ideas of locality and culture in modern French and European history.

Place and Locality in Modern France analyses the significance and changing constructions of local place in modern France. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars from around the world, this book provides a timely overview of the cross-disciplinary thinking that is currently taking place over a central issue in French history.The contributed chapters address a range of subjects that include: the politics of administrative reform, decentralization, regionalism and local advocacy; the role of commerce in engendering narratives and experience of local place; the importance of ethnic, class, gender and race distinctions in shaping local connection and identity; the generation and transmission of knowledge about local place and culture through academia, civic heritage and popular memory. As a reconsideration of the ''local'' in French history, Place and Locality in Modern France bridges the divide between micro- and macro-history for all those interested in ideas of locality and culture in modern French and European history.

Written from 1969 to 1971, West Coast Beat poet Philip Whalen's "Scenes of Life at the Capital" is a lasting testament to the ambition, range, powers, and devotion of this crucially important American voice. Positioned among the Buddhist temples of Kyoto, Whalen looks across the ocean to address the new frontiers, political problems, and transformative hopes of the United States of the 1960s—so much of which still resonates today. In this new edition—with a deep and enlightening afterword by David Brazil—Whalen's poem is further cemented as a fundamental work in American literary history.