Get the Money!

A monumental event in American poetry, Get the Money!brings together the essential prose writings of iconic New York School poet Ted Berrigan.Ted Berrigan was a leader of the New York School; his crazy energy embodied that movement and the city itself.John Ashbery, author of Self-Portrait in a Convex MirrorGet the Money! was Ted Berrigans mantra for the paid writing gigs he took on in support of his career as a poet. This long-awaited collection of his essential prose draws upon the many essays, reviews, introductions, and other texts he produced for hire, as well as material from his journals, travelogues, and assorted, unclassifiable creative texts. Get the Money! documents Berrigans innovative poetics and techniques, as well as the creative milieu of poetscentered around New Yorks Poetry Projectfor whom he served as both nurturer and catalyst. Highlights include his journals from the 60s, depicting his early poetic discoveries and bohemian activities in New York; the previously unpublished Some Notes About C, an account of his mimeo magazine that serves as a de facto memoir of the early days of the second-generation New York School; a moving and prescient obituary, Frank OHara Dead at 40; book reviews consisting of poems entirely collaged from lines in the book; art reviews of friends and collaborators like Joe Brainard, George Schneeman, and Jane Freilicher; and his notorious Interviews with John Cage and John Ashbery, both of which were completely fabricated. Get the Money! provides a view into the development of Berrigans aesthetics in real time, as he captures the heady excitement of the era and champions the poets and artists he loves.Praise for Get the Money!:Get the Money! captures the esprit de corps of the particular community close to Teds door on St Marks Place. This book of prose with its nimble lift, tinged with intimacy, wit, and perception is a welcome addition to the second generation NY School canon.Anne Waldman, author of Trickster FeminismTed was my mentor, my teacher of America and its poetry, and I often quote him. He was an oral genius and I have regretted not writing down everything he said to me. Now I have this collection of journals, critical writing on art, aphorisms, and correspondence. It makes for a grand portrait of the poet who charmed my whole generation. Ted Berrigan is alive in this book in ways that no one could guess.Andrei Codrescu, author of Too Late for NightmaresIts always a significant occasion when we have an edition of a poets prose. Get the Money! offers us an important window into Ted Berrigans laboratory, his no bullshit attitude, his class awareness, his gorgeous sentimentality, and his disarming anarchic humor. This book is what anyone could hope it would be: funny, tender, brilliant, intimate, original, alive.Peter Gizzi, author of Now It's DarkTed Berrigan's voice has always been instantly familiar to me so Get the Money! feels less like a reading experience and more like taking a long walk with my favorite poet, then buying him a drink someplace and letting him talk.Cedar Sigo, author of All This Time