The New York School

“In his deeply researched, brilliantly written book, The New York School, Evan Kindley adds a crucial chapter to the story of artistic revolution in mid-twentieth century New York by reminding us that the ferment wasn’t just about paint—it involved words. Words that became poetry of such power they inspired visual artists, composers and, most crucially, younger generations of writers who flocked to New York searching for the proximity that might become revelation. I defy readers to withstand the romance of the moment Kindley so beautifully describes and to resist the urge to relive it through the New York School Poets’ verse.”
—Mary Gabriel, author of Ninth Street Women

“A few years back, in the company of a figure further along in the arts than I was, I asked: ‘So what’s the big deal about the New York School?’ Now I know. Ardent, expert, comradely, light of touch, this book has the qualities of those poets’ best work, and then some.”
—Paul Elie, author of The Life You Save May Be Your Own and The Last Supper

“Evan Kindley’s The New York School manages to feel both expansive and concise. We’re quickly on a first name basis with John Ashbery, Barbara Guest, LeRoi Jones, Kenneth Koch, Frank O’Hara, and James Schuyler—and in the whirling center of their capacious talent, revelry, and rivalry. Tucked within his tender portrait of this close-knit crew, Kindley delivers fresh readings of some of the twentieth century’s best known poems.”
—Prudence Peiffer, author of The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever

“Evan Kindley has, with great economy and insight, written a new history of the New York School by tracing the friendships, marriages, and assorted entanglements that inspired and propelled this unique community of artists. I felt like I was in their rooms and bars, alive alongside them.”
—Dan Nadel, author of Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life

“Evan Kindley has written the best account of the New York School of Poets yet. It is warm, alert, nuanced, analytic, alive to the cultural intricacies of their lives and works, which were steeped in visual art, French poetry, popular culture, and the hectic social whirl of New York in the middle of the century. They were, as Kindley shows, a true society of poets, something that rarely happens.”
—Lucy Sante, author of Low Life and I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition