Rating 4 stars.

This non-fiction book is about the art scene, New York, relationships, and facing our past. Ada Calhoun writes about her father and his work, her own work, and her relationship with her father. Calhoun is a gifted writer. As she describes the people of the art scene including  poet Frank O’Hara, her father’s idol, she says “These people are the worst.” I agree. Reading about their lives and escapades wasn’t always fun. 

I did appreciate Calhoun’s situation, emotions, and response. She found a way to understand herself and her father better, and a way to honor art, New York, and humans. A well written memoir about a place and people I knew nothing about. I’m glad I read Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me. 

“I always wished that when I was young he’d just picked, once and for all, whether to be smart and thoughtful or arrogant and callous. Instead, he’d be one thing for a week or two and then without warning, the other.”