First published 2019
David Rattray studied at Harvard and the Sorbonne but chose the poet's path over academic life. These essays trace his journey through a hidden mystical tradition that stretches from ancient Pythagoras through medieval In Nomine music to the German poet Hölderlin and French surrealist Antonin Artaud. Rattray didn't just study this tradition. He lived it. His stories "Van" and "The Angel" follow his travels through southern Mexico with poet friend Van Buskirk after graduating from Dartmouth in the 1950s. Living in Paris, Rattray became Artaud's first English translator, driven not by career ambitions but by a desire to share vital messages with his generation. While the Beat writers captured media attention, Rattray worked in the shadows, excavating and embodying a poetic wisdom that runs beneath Western civilization. Compiled shortly before his death at fifty-seven, this collection reveals both a secret history and a practical guide for those seeking to join the invisible.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, biography-memoir, academic
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, practical-guide
Setting: Dartmouth, France, Harvard, Mexico, Paris, Sorbonne
Period: 1950s
424 pages · Kindle Edition · Semiotext(e)