Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer

Kenneth Patchen

Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer reveals an American humorist more daring than [S .J.] Perelman and as original as Thurber.

Selden Rodman

Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer

Fiction by Kenneth Patchen

“Can you imagine why a pornographer would be shy? Are you satisfied with the state of (a) World Society (b) your soul (c) American writing? Are you in the habit of reading books that could have been written by anybody? Do you really want the truth? Do you know how angels learn to fly? What would you feed a green deer? Do you think a profound social message can be conveyed by a book that is comic in character?” When Kenneth Patchen’s comic masterpiece, Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer first appeared in 1945, these questions were asked on the dust jacket. They have never seemed more relevant. The hilarious saga of Alfred Budd of Bivalve, New Jersey—a Candide-like innocent and part-time pornographer, written with what Diane DiPrima called Patchen’s “tender silliness”—is sure to inspire a new generation of readers.

Buy Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer

Paperback(published Jun, 01 1999)

ISBN
9780811214117
Price US
14
Page Count
256
Portrait of Kenneth Patchen

Kenneth Patchen

20th Century American Poet

Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer reveals an American humorist more daring than [S .J.] Perelman and as original as Thurber.

Selden Rodman