A Palpable Elysium: Portraits of Genius and Solitude

From Booklist
Poet and premier small-press (the Jargon Society) publisher Williams collects artists. That is, he goes to meet poets, sculptors, painters, composers, photographers, and musicians--living and dead--in situ. A longtime contributing editor of the photography journal Aperture, he takes a mean snap himself, and he says he likes to get a portrait in a single shot, strictly on the fly. Lots of his subjects are fellow upper-southerners, from poet-farmer Wendell Berry to folk-potter Georgia Blizzard of Glade Spring, Virginia. He spends part of each year in Dentdale, Surrey, and so here, too, are such English images as a vault in the Watts Mortuary Chapel, Compton, Surrey, as decorated almost beyond belief by Mary Frazer-Tytler Watts. Charlie Parker's, E. E. Cummings', and James Thurber's grave markers prove remarkably unprepossessing, while the monumental sculpture gardens of outsider artists like St. EOM are remarkably overwhelming. Each picture is a treat, and Williams' highly personal, peculiar, prickly, and patrician notes make this one of the funniest books of the age. Vintage Williams. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


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This lavish and handsomely produced book fits no discernable category. Collected from the offbeat world of Williams (photographer, poet, and Jargon Society publisher), its dozens of entries provide glimpses of people and places that touched his life. "One-shot" photographs are candid yet artful, and brief accompanying texts range from witty and astute to somewhat enigmatic. There are comments inspired by the gravesites of Erik Satie, Vincent van Gogh, Wallace Stevens, and Jelly Roll Morton. The likenesses of William Carlos Williams, Henry Miller, and Kenneth Rexroth are complemented by their own words as well as by the author's personal recollections. Obscure "originals" are also equally featured, including a Rochester, NY, artist and bookmaker called Saint Keith of Cayuga Street and North Carolina wind machine creator Vollis Simpson. Williams offers perspectives on the particular genius of each image with literary and photographic aplomb. The author's explanatory foreword and Guy Davenport's thoughtful introduction provide a helpful prelude to what follows. Those who relish the alternate side of art, culture, and humanity will enjoy becoming acquainted with this work. For large arts and humanities collections.-Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.


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