Research Catalog

Title

Pure act : the uncommon life of Robert Lax / Michael N. McGregor.

Author

McGregor, Michael N.

Publication

• New York : Fordham University Press, 2015.
• ©2015

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

viii, 444 pages, 14 unnumbered pages of plates; 24 cm

Summary

"An illuminating biography of the minimalist poet Robert Lax, a man who embraced simplicity, humility, and poverty and found the pure joy, peace and love he had long sought. Pure Act tells the story of poet Robert Lax, whose quest to live a true life as both an artist and a spiritual seeker inspired Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac, William Maxwell and a host of other writers, artists and ordinary people. Known in the U.S. primarily as Merton's best friend and in Europe as a daringly original avant-garde poet, Lax left behind a promising New York writing career to travel with a circus, live among immigrants in post-war Marseilles and settle on a series of remote Greek islands where he learned and recorded the simple wisdom of the local people. Born a Jew, he became a Catholic and found the authentic community he sought in Greek Orthodox fishermen and sponge divers. In his early life, as he alternated working at the New Yorker, writing screenplays in Hollywood and editing a Paris literary journal with studying philosophy, serving the poor in Harlem and living in a sanctuary high in the French Alps, Lax pursued an approach to life he called pure act--a way of living in the moment that was both spontaneous and practiced, God-inspired and self-chosen. By devoting himself to simplicity, poverty and prayer, he expanded his capacity for peace, joy and love while producing distinctive poetry of such stark beauty critics called him "one of America's greatest experimental poets" and "one of the new 'saints' of the avant-garde." Written by a writer who met Lax in Greece when he was a young seeker himself and visited him regularly over fifteen years, Pure Act is an intimate look at an extraordinary but little-known life. Much more than just a biography, it's a tale of adventure, an exploration of friendship, an anthology of wisdom, and a testament to the liberating power of living an uncommon life"--

Series Statement

Catholic practice in North America

Uniform Title

Catholic practice in North America.

Subjects

• Poets, American
• Lax, Robert
• Poetry > Authorship
• RELIGION / Spirituality
• RELIGION / Christianity / Catholic
• POETRY / Inspirational & Religious
• Poets, American > 20th century > Biography
• 1900 - 1999
• Biography

Genre/Form

Biography.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Contents: -- Prologue: Going Back -- 1. A Mutual Wonder-field -- 2. Ends and Means -- 3. Portals to a Land of Dusk -- 4. The Cottage -- 5. Lo, the sun walks forth! -- 6. Suicide Notes -- 7. The Scream -- 8. Aquinas and the Circus Beckon -- 9. The Siren Call of Hollywood -- 10. On the Road with the Cristianis -- 11. Being a Presence in Post-War Marseilles -- 12. Entering the the Lion's mouth -- 13. Paris, Jubilee, and Kerouac -- 14. Inspiration in a Greek Diner -- 15. A New Poetics -- 16. Original Child Bomb and an Island Home -- 17. The Sorrow of the Sponge Diver -- 18. A Saint of the Avant-Garde -- 19. Alone in the World -- 20. A Galapagos of the Spirit -- 21. All Thoughts as They Come -- 22. The Flaw in the Ideal -- 23. Hell Hath No Fury -- 24. Finding a Common Language -- 25. Pure Act Becomes Pure Love -- 26. The Peacemaker's Handbook -- Epilogue: The Singer and the Song -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgements.

Call Number

JFE 15-6545

ISBN

• 9780823268016
• 0823268012

LCCN

2015009511

OCLC

902660862

Author

McGregor, Michael N., author.

Title

Pure act : the uncommon life of Robert Lax / Michael N. McGregor.

Publisher

New York : Fordham University Press, 2015.

Copyright Date

©2015

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Catholic practice in North America

Catholic practice in North America.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1900 - 1999

Research Call Number

JFE 15-6545