The Grand Piano

The Grand Piano

by Bob Perelman, Carla Harryman, Barrett Watten, Ted Pearson, Kit Robinson, Rae Armantrout, Steve Benson, Tom Mandel

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About
THE GRAND PIANO is an ongoing experiment in collective autobiography by ten writers identified with Language poetry in San Francisco. It takes its name from a coffeehouse at 1607 Haight Street, where from 1976-79 the authors took part in a reading and performance series. The writing project, begun in 1998, was undertaken as an online collaboration, first via an interactive web site and later through a listserv. When completed, THE GRAND PIANO will comprise ten parts, in which each of the ten authors will appear in a different sequence. These poets are Bob Perelman, Barrett Watten, Steve Benson, Carla Harryman, Tom Mandel, Ron Silliman, Kit Robinson, Lyn Hejinian, Rae Armantrout, and Ted Pearson.

Discussion questions for The Grand Piano

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  1. 1

    How does the concept of collective autobiography challenge the traditional, solitary idea of memoir, and what is gained (or lost) when ten distinct voices weave their histories together?

  2. 2

    Given that the book is rooted in a specific time and place—San Francisco's 1970s countercultural and avant-garde scene—how does the setting function almost as a character itself within these pages?

  3. 3

    The authors are foundational figures of Language poetry, a movement known for questioning the transparency of language; how does this experimental approach to prose and memory shape the way you read their personal histories?

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