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Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me
First edition cover
AuthorAda Calhoun
LanguageEnglish
Subjects
PublisherGrove Press
Publication date
June 14, 2022
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages272
ISBN978-0-8021-5978-6
070.92
LC ClassPN4874.C223 A3 2022

Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me is a 2022 memoir by Ada Calhoun. It explores Calhoun's relationship with her father, the art critic Peter Schjeldahl, as well as their shared interest in the poet Frank O'Hara. The book was published on June 14, 2022, by Grove Press.[1]

Overview

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Also a Poet is a memoir by Calhoun about her relationship with her father, as well as their love for the poet Frank O'Hara. The inspiration for the project came when Calhoun discovered interviews her father had done with O'Hara for a never-completed biography project. As an O'Hara fan herself, Calhoun decides to pick up where Schjeldal left off, though she quickly runs into similar issues with the O'Hara estate.[2] The book combines literary history with a personal narrative about the complexities of parental-child relationships to tell parallel but related stories concerning the three main figures.

Like she has with other books, Calhoun also included in the backmatter a corresponding playlist.[3] She supported the book with a major U.S. tour.[4]

Reception

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Also a Poet has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, according to the review-aggregation website Book Marks.[5] As of August 2023, it has a 4.07/5 star rating on GoodReads.[6]

Prior to publication, the book landed five starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews,[7] Publishers Weekly,[8] Booklist,[9] Library Journal,[10] and BookPage.[11] Shelf Awareness called the memoir, "Deceptively tender and cleverly conceived."[12] Tom Hanks, Susannah Cahalan, Alysia Abbott, and Robert Kolker also provided blurbs.

Also a Poet was covered widely across most major news outlets. The New York Times Book Review coverage by Alexandra Jacobs called the book, "A grand slam of a new memoir . . . It's a big valentine to New York City past and present, and a contribution to literary scholarship, molten with soul."[13] Calhoun was also profiled by The New York Times around publication.[14] The Washington Post dubbed the book, "Brave, blistering . . . Fierce, dissonant, yet compelling"[15] and The Boston Globe review was similarly positive: "A scintillating work of personal quest and cultural history . . . As Calhoun's earlier books attest, she's a hell of an observer, writing with flair and putting herself on a tightwire, a high-risk gamble that mostly results in high rewards."[16] Vogue ran an excerpt from the book.[17] The Los Angeles Book Review said the book was, "an unanticipated investigation into the powers of literary estates to determine what, when, and how we read."[18] Further praise came from Ploughshares,[19] The New Republic,[20] Shondaland,[21] and Town & Country.[22] Jenna Bush Hager also featured the book on The Today Show as one of her favorite summer reads.[23]

The book was longlisted for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction[24] and named a July 2022 Indie Next Pick.[25] It was also included on the Oprah Daily Summer 2022 Best Book of the Year (So Far) list[26] and on the Best Book of the Year lists for the New York Times,[27] The Paris Review,[28] Washington Post,[29] Vogue,[30] PBS NewsHour,[31] Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, Audible,[32] Hudson News,[33] Esquire,[34] Chicago Public Library,[35] Oprah Daily, NPR's Fresh Air,[36] Apple Books, Literary Hub,[37] and Publishers Lunch.

References

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  1. ^ "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me". Grove Atlantic.
  2. ^ "Ada Calhoun comes to terms with a neglectful father in 'Also a Poet'". The Washington Post. 17 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Also a Poet Playlist".
  4. ^ "Appearances".
  5. ^ "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me". Book Marks.
  6. ^ "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me". GoodReads.
  7. ^ "ALSO A POET: FRANK O'HARA, MY FATHER, AND ME". Kirkus Reviews. 14 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me". Publishers Weekly. June 2022.
  9. ^ "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me". Booklist. June 2022.
  10. ^ "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me". Library Journal. 1 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me". BookPage.
  12. ^ "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me". Shelf Awareness.
  13. ^ "In 'Also a Poet,' a Search for Frank O'Hara and for Peace With Dad". The New York Times. 14 June 2022.
  14. ^ "A Daughter, Her Father and the Long-Gone Poet Who Brought Them Together". The New York Times. 9 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Ada Calhoun comes to terms with a neglectful father in 'Also a Poet'". The Washington Post. 17 June 2022.
  16. ^ "A daughter's tale in 'Also a Poet'". The Boston Globe. 17 June 2022.
  17. ^ "For One Writer, Creativity and Domesticity Have Always Been At Odds". Vogue. 31 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Private Domain: On Ada Calhoun's "Also a Poet". Los Angeles Book Review. 21 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Also a Poet's Exploration of Not Being There". Ploughshares. 16 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Growing Up With Frank O'Hara". The New Republic. 21 July 2022.
  21. ^ "The Pure Poetry of Ada Calhoun's Prose". Shondaland. 27 June 2022.
  22. ^ "The 33 Must-Read Books of Summer 2022". Town & Country. 10 June 2022.
  23. ^ "Jenna Bush Hager has your next memoir to read this summer". The Today Show. 26 July 2022.
  24. ^ "2023 Winners". American Library Association. 3 October 2022.
  25. ^ "The July 2022 Indie Next List Preview". American Booksellers Association. 1 June 2022.
  26. ^ "2022 So Far Has Given Us These Great Reads You Don't Want to Miss". Oprah Daily. 23 August 2022.
  27. ^ "100 Notable Books of 2022". New York Times. 22 November 2022.
  28. ^ "What the Paris Review Staff Read in 2022". The Paris Review. 16 December 2022.
  29. ^ "50 notable works of nonfiction". The Washington Post. 17 November 2022.
  30. ^ "The Best Books of 2022 So Far". Vogue. 8 November 2022.
  31. ^ "Literary Critics Give Their Takes on the Best Books of 2022". PBS NewsHour. 15 December 2022.
  32. ^ "Best of the Year 2022". Audible.
  33. ^ "Hudson Reveals Its Best Books of 2022". Hudson News. 12 November 2022.
  34. ^ "The 20 Best Books of Summer 2022". Esquire. 24 June 2022.
  35. ^ "CPL Best of the Best Books 2022". Chicago Public Library. 21 November 2022.
  36. ^ "Maureen Corrigan's favorite books of the year: 10 disparate reads for a hectic 2022". NPR. 30 November 2022.
  37. ^ "The Ultimate Best Books of 2022 List". Literary Hub. 19 December 2022.
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