David Meltzer (Books)

David Meltzer Books

David Meltzer was a poet whose work bridged the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance. A pioneer of jazz poetry readings, Meltzer's output explored the intersection of language, music, and spirituality. His innovative approach to verse often delved into themes of identity and lived experience, pushing the boundaries of poetic expression. Beyond his own writing, he significantly contributed to literary culture through editing numerous anthologies and teaching, fostering a vibrant poetic community.

Rock Tao

176 pages
7 hours of reading

3.5(4)Add rating

Edited by Patrick James Dunagan. ROCK TAO is a rambling cohesive rock-n-roll poetics diary originally written in 1965 as Meltzer listened to KEWB in San Francisco transcribing lyrics of top hit songs. Along the way, he samples scientists, philosophers, psychologists, musicians, starlets... figures who defined what the sixties would come to be and how they would be remembered. ROCK TAO is penetrating in its critical view of the consumer culture taking shape in America. Meltzer said, "...I began examining what is famous in America as a way to sight those archetypal inventions peculiar to the land." He presciently anticipated the homogenizing Walmartification of how the country would develop over the next 50 years. The rollicking collage form of ROCK TAO is a continuation of novelist John Dos Passos' epic, USA Trilogy.