Alan Kaufman (1)Critiques

An interesting take on the repercussions of the holocaust. Inspiring and depressing all at once. Anyone interested in the process of dealing with trauma abd how it passes from one generation to the next should give this a read.

Kaufman's biography is vivid and wild, the material of his life always veering to extremes such as his sojourn to Israel and subsequent service in the Israeli Defense Force, to his crippling alcoholism and mental illness. For all this, gripping as it was, it felt like something was lacking. Though I know recovery saved Kaufman's life, and his art, I felt like the art and the literary life was underplayed in the narrative to pay more focus to Kaufman's descent into alcoholism and his salvation from it. Many memoirs walk a line between the great pathos of human weaknesses and the power and importance art, and perhaps these two things are generally inextricable. This memoir favored the former in its concentration, and I suppose I would have preferred more of a balance.½

I've been waiting to read some other reviews of this book because I kept thinking: "Is it me or is this guy kind of creepy?" I need to read some of his other books and some of his poetry to understand why anyone even likes this person or what he's written. What I found was a sex crazed narcissist that I did not like at all. With each new conquest I found myself rolling my eyes and being more and more disgusted that anyone would act that way let alone put it all down on paper to be proud of. I felt sorry for the women he portrayed as animals.

I always feel that if I don't like the main character it's hard for me to like the book. This book was extremely difficult because I knew it was true and about a real man. I kept thinking, just wait till he gets sober and it will get better. But it didn't. More abusive sex and more name dropping. It's hard to imagine all this happened in one man's lifetime. I feel bad because I'm just an ordinary reader and Mr. Kaufman is a world renowned author, but if he's a creep that's that, I don't like what he wrote because I don't like the way he lived his life. Unfortunately it doesn't even seem like his main problem was the drinking.

This is one of those books about which I made a mental u-turn halfway through. About a 100 pages in and I HATED this guy - Kaufman. Really despised him, had no respect for him as a writer or a human being. I almost quit this book, but I gutted it out until "Part Two", and I GOT IT. Kaufman despised HIMSELF in the first half of the book, and, why not? He was a miserable drunk, user of women and friends, and a walking waste of potential. As he considers recovery, I was sold - sold on Kaufman's talent as a writer and humbled by his willingness to bare his personal rock bottom in such a way that his own self-loathing becomes visceral to the reader. This memoir is just REAL. To quote the cover blurb from Dave Eggers, "He's not neat, he's not careful...But there's more passion here than you see in twenty other books combined."

The book chronicles Kaufman’s headlong plunge into the piratical life of a literary drunk, and takes us shamelessly through nourish alleyways of S&M sensuality, forbidden pleasures and pitfalls of adultery, the thrilling horrors of war, plus raging poetry nights, mental illness, homelessness, literary struggle and his strange, magnificent rise into a sobriety of personal triumph as crazily improbable as the famous and notorious figures he meets along the way.

Whether the addiction is booze, women, violence, writing or fame, Kaufman honors us with an explicit honesty that only a writer of enormous power and artistic greatness can attain, and his life, as Drunken Angel poignantly shows, is a profoundly meaningful quest for truth and spiritual values.

As engrossing, moving and honest a literary memoir as one will ever read, Drunken Angel is that rare combination of aching beauty and haunting truth, all made vivid and alive with a poetry that is both turbulent and profoundly wise. Alan Kaufman takes his readers on a Jewish Huck Finn journey of addiction, regret, and rage. With his immense literary gifts as a storyteller, he turns the jagged, jaded tale of his life into a true work of art, and along way finds the reconciliation and peace that made this memoir possible, and for that, we should all be grateful.

What must it be like? This is a question I’ve asked myself many times when I think of the soldiers in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). I’ve never been in a war or have even been a soldier. I read books about war and books about soldiers. However, until this book, no book I’ve read has touched upon the soul of the “situation” in Israel in which there is an ever-present war that is “not quite” a war.

IDF troops serve reserve duty yearly even after they finish their mandatory tour of duty following high school. Their duties as soldiers are so different from their joyous and carefree lives as civilians. This book takes a look at that darker side of their lives. It’s a side, even with all my trips to Israel, I haven’t entered before.

Nathan Falk, the narrator of this story, is an American member of the IDF. He is assigned to various operations along the perimeter of Israel and across the “Green Line” (pre-1967 Israel borders) in order to prevent terrorists from gaining entrance into Israel proper and to avenge deaths already caused to Israeli civilians by terrorists. There is a disclaimer at the front of this book emphasizing that this is a work of fiction. However, the events that happen just jump off of the pages and make them seem all too real. Along with human suffering are two events of animal suffering which had me squirming with unease.

Not quite a novel because of its divisions and subdivisions and not quite a book of short stories because there is a common thread throughout all of the chapters, I’m not sure how to classify this book. Never mind this, though, as the detailed and precise writing of this talented author flows well. Subsequent to reading this story, I’ve learned that the author is also a poet and was impressed by his poetry as well.

This is not an easy read, but the author is amazing at how he brings his main character to life. I highly recommend this book for its look at the personal life of one IDF soldier as he tries to faithfully serve his adopted country.½

60s and 70s counterculture-heavy.

A big, satisfying overview of "non-academic" poetry through the end of the 20th century. There is much here that just can't be found elsewhere, and good editorial introductions to chapters about genres as diverse as beatniks, cowboy poetry, and slam. This could be the textbook for a very fun poetry class.½

Part 1 Tales of Childhood:
The Audition: A sad story of physical and emotional abuse at his mother's hands. A poor family and a mother tormented by her past terror as a survivor of the Holocaust.

The Purple Jew: A funny account of the author's attempt at writing a comic strip called The Purple Jew and his attempt to collect rare comics to one day make him wealthy. Funny and sad at the same time. His angry mother foiled his attempts when she destroyed his comic collection.

Asthma: A recollection of beatings, fantasies, asthma, and the day he was given an injection of adrenaline.

The Death of JFK: A hilarious look at the mind of children during this historical event contrasted by the adult's sorrow and shock.

Dry Goods: The author's mother in debt to the dry goods salesman and his attempt to protect her from embarassment.

Scum: A hilarious account of the author's first sexual self-satisfaction episodes and wet dreams. I learned a lot in this chapter about what it's like for a boy to feel these things and how that evolves.

Bar Mitzvah: The study for Bar Mitzvah, the unhappy shopping trip for a suit, the let down once again of not having a *special* day that other kids take for granted. His realization that he loves his family despite their faults, and there are many of those.

Part 1 was a *can't put it down* book but I wasn't impressed by the following chapters. It was too drawn out and poorly edited. There didn't seem to be really any point to it other than thanking his friend who helped him stop drinking eventually.
Part 1 was sad, funny, frightening, surprising, descriptive, and more. The author had a wonderful way of making the events come alive as though you were there.

I wanted to give Alan Kaufman a hug :)

This is an amazing, almost overwhelming collection of poetry. If you want to know what's been new and exciting in the poetry world for the past thirty years, check out this collection.

I found this book at the library while searching for Jack Kerouk I think. I checked it out and loved so many of the poems. I started coping the ones I liked, then I realized, I'd end up copying the whole book! So, I had to add it to MY library. I love anything to do with bad boys.