Title: Patchen deserves better...
Product review: As I've written elsewhere (in Rain Taxi, a review of books, to be exact), Smith's biography hardly does justice to the memory of poet Kenneth Patchen. Besides claiming Baudelaire is a Spanish poet(!), Smith practically ignores Patchen's energetic, highly individual work in favor of detailing the poet's politics and undeniably painful medical history, which is not how any poet of Pathcen's talents would want to be remembered. What's more unfortunate than Patchen's record of ill health is that his poetry and novels and art continue to be overlooked after his death - just as they were during his difficult life. If ever an American poet deserved critical reconsideration, it's Mr. Kenneth Patchen. Before you spend your good money on this self-published socio-political diatribe, please purchase every Patchen book that remains in print. Then buy second copies to give as gifts. Fans of e.e. cummings, one of Patchen's many writerly pals, should really enjoy Patchen's work.
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