A monumental event in American poetry, Get the Money! brings together the essential prose writings of iconic New York School poet Ted Berrigan. “Get the Money!” was Ted Berrigan’s mantra for the paid writing gigs he took on in support of his career as a poet. This long-awaited introductions, and other texts he produced for hire, as well as material from his journals, travelogues, and assorted, unclassifiable creative texts. Get the Money! documents Berrigan’s innovative poetics and techniques, as well as the creative milieu of poets–centered around New York’s Poetry Project–for whom he served as both nurturer and catalyst. Highlights include his journals from the ’60s, depicting his early poetic discoveries and bohemian activities in New York; the previously unpublished “Some Notes About ‘C, ‘” an account of his mimeo magazine that serves as a de facto memoir of the early days of the second-generation New York School; a moving and prescient obituary, “Frank O’Hara Dead at 40”; book “reviews” consisting of poems entirely collaborators like Joe Brainard, George Schneeman, and Jane Freilicher; and his notorious “Interviews” with John Cage and John Ashbery, both of which were completely fabricated. Get the Money! provides a view into the development of Berrigan’s aesthetics in real time, as he captures the heady excitement of the era and champions the poets and artists he loves.

Get the Money!: Collected Prose (1961-1983) PDF

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