The Octopus Frontier
Poetry collection by Richard Brautigan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Poetry collection by Richard Brautigan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Octopus Frontier is a 1960 poetry collection by American writer Richard Brautigan. It is Brautigan's fourth poetry publication and his second collection of poetry, and it includes 22 poems.
![]() Cover of 1960 edition | |
Author | Richard Brautigan |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Poetry |
Publisher | Carp Press |
Publication date | 1960 |
Pages | 20 |
Preceded by | Lay the Marble Tea |
Followed by | All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace |
The Octopus Frontier includes 22 poems:
All but 5 of the poems were republished in the 1968 collection, The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster.[1]
In the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Caroline Bokinsky said the collection "continues Brautigan's creation of order and meaning from objects in the literal world by using them to construct a fantasy world within his own imagination."[2] Citing several examples, she describes the ways in which Brautigan makes connections and associations to lead readers through his imagination, acting "as a painter, in a meticulous step-by-step process, putting each object in a specific place to create a painting."[2]
Fellow poet Richard McClure said the poems "are filled with large simple images of vegetables and pumpkins floating on the tide, a poem about Ophelia, and poems about childhood." According to McClure, it was at this point in Brautigan's writing that there emerged "a recognizable Brautigan style [...] but there is no indication that this work is greatly above the level of much North Beach poetry."[3]
The Octopus Frontier is the first Brautigan work to feature a photograph on the cover.[3] The image, by San Francisco-based photographer Gui de Angelo, shows a person's feet standing on a six-foot octopus tentacle Brautigan bought for the purpose from a Chinatown fishmonger and carried to the roof of a building in North Beach. It has been described as being "striking and just misses being sinister".[3][4]
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