Reminiscent of [b:Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling With D.H. Lawrence|49423|Out of Sheer Rage Wrestling With D.H. Lawrence|Geoff Dyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316738650l/49423._SX50_.jpg|880896] in which the author writes about a book he couldn't write, [a:Ada Calhoun|3000741|Ada Calhoun|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1624936880p2/3000741.jpg] starts out writing a book based on inherited interview tapes about the poet [a:Frank O'Hara|80892|Frank O'Hara|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1498162125p2/80892.jpg] from her art critic/poet father, Peter Sjeldahl [a:Peter Schjeldahl|456352|Peter Schjeldahl|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], but her process is hampered by her subject's sister. I enjoyed the book and valued its notes at the end plus her bibliography. At first, I was prone to irritation with her withering interactions and striving to get her dad's attention but as the story continues, I became increasingly empathetic toward Calhoun and her complicated father. The tapes he gives her of interviews with mostly dead artists and poets are interesting and the whole milieu of 1950's St. Mark's Place in Greenwich Village is, too. I've ordered O'Hara's poetry but appreciate the frustration she felt at not being able to quote his work in context. ( )

I loved this book. I heard Calhoun interviewed which inspired me to finally pick this up. This is the story of the evolution of Calhoun's idea to write a biography of Frank O'Hara, something her father attempted, after she finds cassette tapes of interviews he had done. This evolution brings it around to her examination of her East Village childhood, her reactions to her father's complex personality and seeing her father as he is, not as who she wants him to be. Through the interview recordings and her own NYC life, she paints a picture of NYC past and present. ( )