Charles Olson Reading at Berkeley as transcribed by Zoe Brown by OLSON, Charles

San Francisco: Coyote, 1966. Second printing. Small quarto, wrappers. Near fine. Olson read at Berkeley on the night of July 23, 1965. The Coyote Press book documents this later reading which has become legendary in literary history as one of the great spoken word performances on record. The reading is a glorious drunken mess. Part showman, part shaman, part senator, Olson gave the reading of his life. It was a defining experience for him as well as a recounting of his biography. Olson tested the patience of his audience (Robert Duncan walked out) as well as their endurance (Olson stopped after several hours only because the building was closing). The Berkeley Poetry Conference engendered a new generation of poets - Anne Waldman and Lewis Warsh - as it celebrated the vitality of the poetry presented in the New American Anthology of Donald Allen. By 1965, the poetry represented in Allen’s book proved to be the poetry that mattered. Olson was in many respects the king of the hill. From the audience, Duncan called Olson the “boss poet” at Olson’s reading. Earlier, Jack Spicer compared Olson to President Johnson. Just as Olson had conquered Eliot, Pound and Williams before him, the “boss poet” must have realized that the upcoming generation would have to slay him in turn. The Berkeley reading was Olson’s confession before his execution.