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Title: Japhy Ryder Lives!
Review: Like many readers, I was introduced to Gary Snyder as the character "Japhy Ryder" in Jack Kerouac's novel, "The Dharma Bums." When I found out that "Japhy", who is one of Kerouac's most memorable characters, was based on the poet Gary Snyder, I had to read his works.This collection of Snyder's prose and poetry is an excellent introduction to the works of a man I now consider a national treasure, not just for his literary works, but as an environmentalist and natural philosopher. His prose is inspiring, revealing the ethics of a man who practices what he preaches, and his poetry is exhilarating both intellectually and spiritually. His translations from the Chinese are rendered in such a way that they are easily accessible to western readers.I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Snyder's works and Beat literature in general.
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