The Octopus Frontier
 Cover of 1960 edition | |
| Author | Richard Brautigan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Publisher | Carp Press |
Publication date | 1960 |
| Pages | 20 |
| Preceded by | Lay the Marble Tea |
| Followed by | All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace |
The Octopus Frontier is a 1960 poetry collection by American writer Richard Brautigan. It is Brautigan's fourth poetry publication and his second collection of poetry, and it includes 22 poems.
Contents
[edit]The Octopus Frontier includes 22 poems:
- "The Sawmill"
- "1942"
- "The Wheel"
- "The Pumpkin Tide"
- "The Sidney Greenstreet Blues"
- "The Quail"
- "The Symbol"
- "A Postcard from Chinatown"
- "Sit Comma and Creely Comma"
- "The Rape of Ophelia"
- "The Last Music Is Not Heard"
- "The Octopus Frontier"
- "The Potato House of Julius Caesar"
- "The Fever Monument"
- "The Winos on Potrero Hill"
- "Mike"
- "Horse Race"
- "The Old Folk's Home"
- "The Postman"
- "Surprise"
- "The Nature Poem"
- "Private Eye Lettuce"
All but 5 of the poems were republished in the 1968 collection, The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster.[1]
Reception
[edit]In the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Caroline Bokinsky said the collection "continues Brautigan's creation of order and meaning from objects in the literal world by using them to construct a fantasy world within his own imagination."[2] Citing several examples, she describes the ways in which Brautigan makes connections and associations to lead readers through his imagination, acting "as a painter, in a meticulous step-by-step process, putting each object in a specific place to create a painting."[2]
Fellow poet Richard McClure said the poems "are filled with large simple images of vegetables and pumpkins floating on the tide, a poem about Ophelia, and poems about childhood." According to McClure, it was at this point in Brautigan's writing that there emerged "a recognizable Brautigan style [...] but there is no indication that this work is greatly above the level of much North Beach poetry."[3]
Cover
[edit]The Octopus Frontier is the first Brautigan work to feature a photograph on the cover.[3] The image, by San Francisco-based photographer Gui de Angelo, shows a person's feet standing on a six-foot octopus tentacle Brautigan bought for the purpose from a Chinatown fishmonger and carried to the roof of a building in North Beach. It has been described as being "striking and just misses being sinister".[3][4]
References
[edit]- ^ Barber, John F. "The Octopus Frontier". BRAUTIGAN.net. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
- ^ a b Bokinsky, Carolina J. (1980). Greiner, Donald J. (ed.). Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 5: American Poets Since World War II. Gale Research Company. pp. 96–99 – via Brautigan.net.
- ^ a b c Barber, John F., ed. (2006). Richard Brautigan: Essays on the Writings and Life. McFarland. ISBN 9780786425259.
- ^ Hjortsberg, William (2013). Jubilee Hitchhiker: The Life and Times of Richard Brautigan. Counterpoint. p. 165. ISBN 9781619021051.
External links
[edit]- Barber, John F. "The Octopus Frontier". BRAUTIGAN.net. includes listing of contents, text of poems, and commentary