Brion Gysin (1916–1986)

This comprehensive biography presents the achievements of Brion Gysin, a multi-faceted artist whose work has influenced performers such as David Bowie and Mick Jagger. Recalling the heady atmosphere of the so-called Beat Hotel in Paris in the late 1950s and 1960s, it features first-hand reminiscences by contemporaries, plus a biographical essay and chronological listings. productive literary collaboration with William Burroughs. As well as looking at his work as a sound poet and performance artist, it features reproductions of his paintings and graphics, and examples of his permutated poems and other writings.… (mere)

Of course, I keep writing over & over: Something Else Press = greatness. This is another installment in the Gysin/Burroughs/(&, in this case, Ian Somerville) history of cut-ups. Add to that some of Gysin's graphics & permutation poems. & fotos too. The permutations were probably pretty exciting to Gysin when he wrote them but now they just seem like: So what? to me.

"I AM THAT I AM
AM I THAT I AM", etc..

I like permutating things but I don't really think that Gysin's simple permutations add up to much. Still, this is a substantial bk for a person not jaded to the subject(s). What so?… (mere)

If the Cut-Up Trilogy was considered of limited interest to readers in the sixties & seventies, 'Minutes To Go' is flat-out obscure. An epistolary collection of ideas & poesy, Gysin's tone is preachy (and, to be honest, a bit of a turn-off), Gregory Corso comes off as reluctant & shrill (protesting the attack on his poetic sensibilities as if protesting physical abuse), Sinclair Beiles is unaccountably gleeful (a child with a new surgical instrument), and Burroughs has become nondescript & inscrutable (having receded into the character of a technician from a hidden star). One is inclined to expect some sort of revelation, but none is forthcoming. All is arch experiment. 'Minutes To Go' is an oddity for the absolutely obsessed.… (mere)