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February 2023: Now available for the first time since
1938: Charles Beadle's notorious confessionalist novel, DARK
REFUGE. Originally published by Jack
Kahane’s Obelisk Press in Paris and censored
throughout the Anglo-Saxon world, Dark Refuge
is an unrecognized modernist masterpiece that
quickly fell into obscurity. It contains thinly
disguised portraits of Modigliani, Max Jacob,
Beatrice Hastings, Léopold Zborowski, and various
other figures who haunted the Parisian demimonde
of the 1910s and 1920s. Beadle’s brazen portrayal
of drug fueled pansexual orgies prevented the
chronicle from being distributed outside of Paris
despite its literary merit and lyrical beauty.
Features my 26,000-word Afterward, "The Dark
Refuge of Charles Beadle," the first in-depth
biographical essay on this prolific novelist. Also
includes an Afterword by Chris Sawyer-Laucanno,
author of The Continual Pilgrimage: American
Writers in Paris, 1944-1960 (Grove). Order
here.
November 2022: The Midwest Book Review is
featuring an insightful review of our new book
project: the reissuing of a literary classic, DARK
REFUGE, by Charles Beadle. Senior editor
Diane Donovan writes:
“Dark
Refuge appears in print for the first time
since its original publication in 1938, presenting
a world traveler’s experiences with bohemian life
in Paris in a novel that also serves (thanks to
Rob Couteau) as a biography of Beadle’s life.
Extensive annotated references link Beadle’s
experiences to his fictional representations,
offering a literary backdrop for understanding
both the atmosphere and progression of his fiction
and its roots in reality. Readers should be
prepared for a sexual romp that is ribald,
explicit, and thoroughly steeped in Beadle’s
personal experiences of the times. Beadle’s
language is evocative, poetic, and dramatic....
Whether exploring drug experiments and the
revelations that follow them or descending into
the sordid and colorful world of bohemian Paris,
Beadle flavors all of his impressions with the
same attention to flowery detail that makes his
writing so timeless... Pair this with the
extensive notes and annotated references Couteau
injects to not just explain but expand the story,
for a sense of the unique literary and historical
importance of this reappearance of Beadle’s rare
classic, which has been out of print for far too
long. Libraries seeking literary representations
of the marriage between fiction and nonfiction
will find Dark Refuge a fine example. The 200+
annotated notes come from previously unpublished
letters and documents, combining with photos and
historical reviews to represent a hallmark of not
only literary fiction, but biographical research.
Dark
Refuge deserves a place in any library
strong in works of literature that represent the
intersection between fictional devices and
bio¬graphical inspection, whether or not there is
prior knowledge of or interest in Beadle’s works
and importance.” – Diane Donovan, Midwest Book
Review
September
2022: Three
chapters from my upcoming picaresque,
INTIMATE SOUVENIRS, have just been
featured in the new Talisman. One story takes
place in Brooklyn, one in Manhattan, and one
in Paris. Thanks to Ed Foster, Christopher
Sawyer-Laucanno, and Bronwyn Mills, who edited
this edition of Talisman: A Journal of
Contemporary Poetry and Poetics.
July 2022: My book on Léon Angély was
just reviewed
in the New Art Examiner by Scott Sublett,
professor of screenwriting, playwriting, and
film history at San Jose State University;
author of "Screenwriting for Neurotics"; and a
regular contributor to the New Art Examiner. He
writes: "In his strange, fascinating new book, A
Blind Man Crazy for Color, writer-painter Rob
Couteau assembles and unearths what little can
be known about the mysterious collector Léon
Angély, a bald, fat, retired solicitor’s clerk
who gambled what small money he had on the dream
of assembling a collection that could someday
finance a luxurious retirement in Nice."
June
2022: The international journal Witty Partition
features a wonderful review
of my new biography: "This is the story of Léon Angély,
the myopic lover of art, and Joséphine, the
"eyes" of Angély, the girl who enabled him to
visit artists and "see" their art. The story is
told with a rare grace by author Rob Couteau in
his new book, A Blind Man Crazy for Color;
excerpts from this charming book are presented
in the pages that follow. Couteau has mined the
literature for gems, and displays them with
abandon, through the generous quotations and
anecdotes set within his own own lustrous prose.
The fine text is accompanied by enchanting
illustrations by Sylvette David. In David, the
book finds both painter and participant in the
milieu Angély so loved: in 1954, David began
modeling for Picasso, becoming the "girl with
the ponytail" in hundreds of works, including
the artist's monumental sculpture, Sylvette, in
Rotterdam. We are grateful to Couteau, David,
and their publisher for allowing us to excerpt
both prose and images from A Blind Man Crazy for
Color. We found the friendship of Léon and
Joséphine a balm for our souls..."
May 2022: The Midwest Book Review is
featuring a beautifully written essay on my
new book. Senior editor Diane Donovan writes:
"A Blind Man Crazy for Color: A Tribute
to Léon Angély" documents an early 20th century
retired clerk who collected art by Picasso,
Modigliani, and Utrillo before these artists were
famous. Despite his failing vision, Léon Angély
could see the promise of these artists before
those around him acknowledged their talents. He
employed a young girl to help him make his
selections when his sight no longer permitted him
to personally enjoy them.
The book is illustrated with original
artwork by Picasso's model and muse, Sylvette
David, who posed for the painter in 1954 when she
was only nineteen years old. Her black and white
and color sketches accent this colorful portrait
of Léon's life, motivations, involvement in the
art world, and the pieces he collected.
Previously unpublished information about
the blind man's passion and his influence on the
art world enhances a survey that should be
required reading and acquisition for any serious
art history student and the libraries catering to
them.
The well-researched treatise is supported
by documentation that ranges from birth and death
certifications to Rob Couteau's personal research
into Sylvette David who, at eighty-seven, adds her
memories to the story to expand reader insights
about both Picasso and David's life and their art
involvements.
Readers also receive revealing
inspections of the process of interviewing artists
and capturing their historical and artistic
impact, adding to A Blind Man Crazy for Color's
importance as a survey that goes beyond a singular
biography of an art enthusiast to delve into the
world of artists, art appreciation, and muses.
The blend of all these elements
demonstrates the interlinked potentials and
importance of artists, muses, and those who
appreciate, purchase, and analyze their work:
"Although he died impoverished and nearly
forgotten, and although the identity of his
youthful guide is still enshrouded in mystery, le
Père Angély helped to preserve what Richardson
calls the “sacred stuff of art” – regardless of
whether his motivation was merely pecuniary. Léon
and Joséphine may also have inspired the greatest
artist of the twentieth century."
Serious art libraries should consider
this extraordinary recreation of artistic
ambitions against all odds a mainstay that stands
out in many different ways.
May
2022: Since 1976, Bob Barrett has interviewed
thousands of guests on his various radio
programs and has been hosting on public radio
since 2001. I'm deeply honored that he chose me
to be the guest for his final show, which was
recorded on WAMC's "The
Best of Our Knowledge" program on April
18, and which will be broadcast in the next few
weeks. Bob interviews me about my new book, A
BLIND MAN CRAZY FOR COLOR: a biography of the
art collector Léon Angély.
April
2022: In the early years of the twentieth
century, a retired legal clerk in Montmartre
named Léon Angély collected Picassos,
Modiglianis, and Utrillos before any of
these artists were well known. And he
purchased many of these creations after his
failing vision left him almost completely
blind. Legend has it that Léon was assisted
by a young girl who served as his "eyes,"
and based on her description of the work he
would make his selections. This homage to
the 'blind man who was crazy for color'
uncovers previously unknown information
about this important yet largely forgotten
figure who inspired one of Picasso's most
powerful engravings, featuring a 'Blind
Minotaur' being led by a little girl. The
book is illustrated with original artwork by
Picasso's model and muse, Sylvette David,
who posed for the painter when she was only
nineteen years old, in 1954. Now
eighty-seven, Sylvette credits Picasso with
inspiring her to devote her life to
painting. Her work is frequently exhibited
in Europe, and in 2021 she was invited to
lecture at the Musée Picasso is Paris.
Includes 16 black-and-white and 25 color
illustrations. Available
internationally at these book sellers.
November 2021:
It's a great honor to have my essay
"Politics as (Un)usual: Stanley J. Marks
and Coup d’État!" featured in Garrison:
A Journal of History and Deep Politics.
Thanks to editor S.T. Patrick for
inviting me to participate in this
groundbreaking 348-page anthology on the
Sixties assassinations. Includes work by
James DiEugenio, author of Destiny
Betrayed; Dr. Cyril Wecht, former
president of the American Academy of
Forensic Sciences; and many other
notable authors and researchers. A rare
glimpse at authentic, uncensored
journalism in the United States,
Garrison is published as a quarterly and
welcomes subscriptions.
October 2021: Now available for
the first time since February 1970: Stanley J. Marks'
Coup d'Etat, with an Introduction by Rob
Couteau. "A good book by
a keen and knowledgeable attorney. Rob
Couteau has done a service by bringing
these books back. Marks was a buried
gem." -- James DiEugenio, the foremost
scholar of the JFK assassination and author of Destiny
Betrayed: JFK, Cuba, and the Garrison
Case. DiEugenio is also the
screenwriter of Oliver Stone's
documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the
Looking Glass (2021).
September 2021:
"Par instants" is a fascnating memoir
about the life of a translator.
Special thanks to the
author for sharing some amusing
anecdotes about the assistance I gave
him in translating the letters of
Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac,
published by Gallimard. Nicolas
Richard has translated over a hundred
books of Anglo-Saxon literature,
including the French edition of
Ginsberg's epic poem, Howl, which we
worked on this fall. Régis Roinsard, director of
the film "The Translators," partially
based the character of "Oscar Brach" on
Nicolas, whom the director interviewed
while working on the screenplay of the
film.
August 2021: Read my
interview with poet, publisher, and literary
critic Ed Foster: Emanations
of Pan, hosted at the Dichtung Yammer
website. Ed discusses his new book, A
Looking-Glass for Traytors (Marsh Hawk
Press, 2021).
15 April 2021: Diane Donovan reviews
my new collection of poems in both
Donovan's Bookshelf and the Midwest Book
Review. "SELECTED
POEMS features 101 poems, 40 of which
have been printed in numerous print and
online journals since 1985. The rest are new
to this collection, and represent a
satisfying blend of old and new works
designed to appeal to newcomers and prior
fans alike. Rob Couteau's works are diverse.
They follow no set poetic structure, even
defying some of them when the muse strikes
and special needs indicate that the subject
is more important than poetic form.... His
inspections of artistic, literary, and
social issues are astute and compelling....
Don't anticipate set structures, uniform
poetic approaches, or singular subjects
here. SELECTED
POEMS offers a freewheeling approach
to poems and life alike, and is a thought
provoking, evocative gathering of works
recommended for literary readers not bound
by convention or rules." With an
Introduction by the poet, critic, and
literary historian Edward Foster. Available
on Amazon
and internationally on Bookfinder.
15 December 2020: Black
Op Radio interview about my reissuing of the
book MURDER MOST FOUL! THE CONSPIRACY THAT
MURDERED PRESIDENT KENNEDY by Stanley J
Marks. This was a very special event because
my dear friend Bobbie Marks, the daughter of
the author, was on the show with me. Bobbie
shares special memories of her father and
his extraordinary work. Please tune in for a
unique experience.
8 December 2020: Stanley J. Marks' TWO DAYS OF INFAMY
is now back in print for the first time since
March 1969. It also features my Introduction,
"The Stanley Marks Revival: The Prophecies of
Murder Most Foul! and Two Days of Infamy." An
abridged
version of this essay is hosted at the
Kennedys and King website. JFK scholar and
author James DiEugenio writes: "Rob
Couteau has performed a miraculous deed. He
has gotten two of the late Stanley Marks'
books on the JFK case republished. Marks was
way ahead of the field. While people like
Harold Weisberg and Josiah Thompson were still
counting bullets, he was calling JFK's death a
coup d'etat. That is the perspective he wrote
from way back in the late sixties. Don't pass
up the chance to meet up with a prophet. Read
both of these books. You will be shocked by
the insight in them." For purchase info on TWO
DAYS OF INFAMY go here.
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December 2020: The
Stanley Marks Revival: The Prophecies of
Murder Most Foul! and Two Days of Infamy.
Thanks to JFK scholar Jim DiEugenio for inviting me
to review MURDER MOST FOUL! and TWO DAYS OF INFAMY
for the Kennedys and King web site. DiEugenio
writes: "Rob Couteau continues his rediscovery
and revitalization of the long-forgotten works
of Stanley Marks by announcing the reprinting
of Murder Most Foul! and Two Days of Infamy
and exploring here the prophecies and
prescience of Marks in these two works,"
adding: "Stanley Marks was an overlooked star
of the JFK research community. Thanks
to Rob and Dylan for being able to unearth
him."
4
November 2020: Stanley
J. Marks' MURDER MOST FOUL! is now back in
print for the first time since September
1967. Includes my in-depth biographical
essay on the blacklisted author's
groundbreaking work and how it may have
influenced Bob Dylan's JFK ballad of the
same name. JFK scholar Jim DiEugenio writes:
"Couteau's work is important, first-rate,
and a wonderful homage to one of the most
important critics of the Warren Report ever
... and an unsung hero in the JFK case.
Stanley Marks was rocket miles ahead of
everyone. He really understood the big
picture early. And not just on the JFK
case." DiEugenio is the foremost scholar on
the Kennedy assassination, author of Destiny
Betrayed: JFK, Cuba, and the Garrison Case,
and scriptwriter for Oliver Stone's
documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the
Looking Glass (2021). 400 pages, with
illustrations. Available at Amazon
USA, UK,
Spain,
France;
and Canada
and Australia;
B&N,
Bookfinder,
and various other worldwide outlets.
30 July 2020: Black Op
Radio interview about my new article at
Kennedys and KIng: "Stanley J. Marks and
Murder Most Foul!"
June 2020: Stanley
J. Marks and Murder Most Foul!—A Sequel to
“The Kennedy / Dylan Sensation.” JFK
scholar Jim DiEugenio writes: “Rob Couteau does
a wonderful homage here. I really mean it’s
first-rate. Stanley Marks was rocket miles ahead
of everyone. He really understood the big
picture early. And not just on the JFK
case."
March-April 2020: A newly revised edition
of my novel Doctor Pluss has just been published
(order
on Amazon here), and the April issue of
Midwest Book Review is featuring a glowing review,
written by Diane Donovan, who says: "Doctor
Pluss is exceptionally well developed and
emotionally compelling, connecting metaphorical
description with experienes s that often
challenge the traditional roles of doctor and
patient, linking them in unexpected ways …
Couteau is not afraid to push the literary
boundaries of convention in pursuit of a
different form of descriptive truth, bringing
readers along in a rollicking ride through
schizophrenic experience that ultimately
questions the foundations of reality and
perception from both sides of the therapist's
couch … His interpretations and descriptions of
the schizophrenic experience are particularly
astute, astonishing, and evocatively described …
Readers who choose Doctor Pluss are in for a
treat. It's like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
on steroids: a thought-provoking examination of
sanity, insanity, and the crossover process that
leaves readers thinking long after this
therapeutic slice of life is consumed." For
the complete review go here.
9 February 2020: Fourteen
of my prose poems are featured in the
annual edition of Talisman, along with The
Cantankerous Krishnamurti, a reminisce
about the renowned philosopher and author,
Jiddu Krishnamurti.
23 September 2019: The
Tragic ‘Years of Lead’: Puppetmasters
Author Philip Willan Talks about the
Manipulation of Terrorism, the Global War on
the Left, and the Links between the JFK and
Aldo Moro Assassinations. A prolific
journalist with the UK's Guardian and London
Times newspapers, Philip Willan's books include
"Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism
in Italy" (1991) and "The Vatican at War"
(2013), which is focused on the scandals of the
Vatican bank and how it may have been linked to
funding right-wing terror. In our interview
Willan also discusses the manipulation of the
Red Brigades by Western security forces and the
global war on the left during the Cold War
period (1945-1990).
18 July 2019: Len Osanic interviews me on Black
Op Radio about my new article at
KennedysandKIng: "NATO’s Secret Armies,
Operation Gladio, and JFK"
15
July 2019: Author James DiEugenio writes: "There
is the Big Picture and then there is the World
Wide Picture. This article by Rob Couteau
addresses the latter. Using powerful work by
authors like Daniele Ganser and Phillip Willan
about Gladio, and Michele Metta’s revelatory
volume on Permindex, Rob Couteau’s milestone
article shows how the murders of Kennedy and
Moro, and the attempts on De Gaulle, were not
isolated events." NATO’s
Secret Armies, Operation Gladio, and JFK,
featured at KennedysandKing.com.
January
2019: "Crawling King Snake," an excerpt
from my fictional picaresque, is featured in
the 2019 edition of Talisman: A Journal of
Contemporary Poetry and Poetics.
June 2018: Part Two of my interview
with Picasso's model and muse, Sylvette David,
now on Youtube: Sylvette
David talks about her paintings in a
conversation with Rob Couteau
March
2018: Interview
with Danny Goldberg, former president of
Atlantic Records, founder of Gold Village
Entertainment, and author of "In Search of the
Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea." Featured
in the Rain Taxi Review.
January
2018: Interview
with Sylvette David, Picasso's model and
muse, and author of the memoir "I Was Sylvette."
An abridged version of this interview is also
featured in the January 2018 edition of
Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry and
Poetics (online).
January
2018: Five poems from various collections
are now featured in the 2018 edition of
Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry and
Poetics.
October
2017: "The American Dream in Reverse," an
excerpt from my picaresque, WONDER, is featured
in 'From Somewhere to Nowhere: The End of the
American Dream' (Autonomedia, NY). This
anthology also includes work by Ed Sanders,
Arthur Nersesian, Eve Packer, Samuel Delany,
Tuli Kupferberg, Elaine Equi, and Bob Holman.
Special thanks to editor Ron Kolm.
June
2017: Two of my large oil paintings on exhibit
at the Roshkowska Galleries in Windham, NY.
January
10, 2017: Three
prose excerpts from my fictional
picaresque were just featured in the 2017
edition of Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary
Poetry and Poetics.
December
2016. Thanks to Michael Webster, editor of Spring:
The Journal of the E. E. Cummings Society,
for reviewing my
essay on the previously unknown family
history of Marion Morehouse, published
in my book More
Collected Couteau.
October
2016. "The Anglo-French Connection: A Brief
Foray into the Maternal Genealogy of Scofield
Thayer," featured in the Worcester
Review. The literary patron and friend
of E. E. Cummings, from
1920 to 1926
Thayer was
also the publisher and editor of the Dial, the most
influential literary magazine in America.
October 2016. ‘If
you are a poet, you help other poets.’ A
Conversation with the Poet, Publisher,
and Literary Historian Edward Halsey
Foster.
March
9, 2016. More
Collected Couteau received a glowing
review from the Midwest
Book Review: "The joy of reading Couteau's
works lies as much in his penetrating,
crystalline language as it does in the works or
figures being examined, and so readers receive a
wide-ranging treat that examines victims,
vengeance, mortality and immortality through an
inspection process that educates even those
unfamiliar with the subject [...] Readers
seeking not just a literary presentation but a
lively analysis of selected wordsmiths and their
lives and influences must add More Collected
Couteau to their reading lists. It's a powerful
presentation that offers much insight and food
for thought, and which should find its way into
many a college classroom as well." See
the complete review here. Available on amazon.
February
5, 2016. My new book of literary essays and
interviews, More
Collected Couteau, was just reviewed by Publishers
Weekly, Select: "Couteau's essays are
informal, fervent, and well-versed examinations
of the work or author at hand. At their best,
they include fascinating insights into the
significance of a writer like [Hubert] Selby....
The interviews are uniformly strong and include
conversations with Michael Korda on T.E.
Lawrence, Justin Kaplan on Walt Whitman, and
Robert Roper on Vladimir Nabokov. Not all of
them focus on literature: author Jeffrey Jackson
covers the 1910 flood of Paris and why it's
relatively forgotten, and Robert De Sena, in one
of the best interviews, discusses his life as a
gang member turned community activist. Couteau's
passion and wealth of knowledge are obvious
throughout the book ... and should appeal to
many readers." Complete
review here. Available on amazon.
December
2015: My artwork
is now represented by the Roshkowska
Galleries.
November
2015. My Occupy Wall Street book, Portraits
from the Revolution, was just reviewed by
Diane Donovan of the Midwest Book Review: “Most
American readers will harbor a prior, casual
familiarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement
of 2011 based on newspaper headlines and events
of the times; but for a more in-depth survey of
the philosophies, approaches, and concerns of
the protests, Portraits from the Revolution is
the item of choice, offering unprecedented depth
and detail on the history and lasting impact of
the Occupy Wall Street movement.... If readers
wish to gain more than a casual news report’s
insights, Portraits from the Revolution is the
item of choice." See
the complete review. Available in print
and e-book
formats on amazon.
November
2015. My new book of Occupy Wall Street
interviews, Portraits
from the Revolution, is now available in print
and e-book
formats on amazon.com.
August 2015. A
Conversation with Robert Roper, author of
Nabokov in America: On the Road to Lolita.
July 2015. An
interview with biographer James Dempsey,
author of The Tortured Life of Scofield
Thayer.
Thayer launched E. E. Cummings's career and
played a crucial role in promulgating
modernism via his magazine, "The Dial," which
published T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," Ezra
Pound's "The Cantos," and artwork by Picasso,
Matisse, Chagall, Lachaise, and Egon Schiele.
May 2015. My new essay, over a year in the
making, on Marion Morehouse: The first
supermodel, the Muse of the art photographer
Edward Steichen, and the lifelong companion of
the poet E. E. Cummings. Includes newly
discovered photos never before made publically
available. On
the Trail of the 'Elusive' Lillian and Marion
Morehouse. Unraveling the genealogical
mysteries of the world's first supermodel.
My
Ray Bradbury interview was cited in The New York
Times, April 16, 2015: Reclaiming
the Age-Old Art of Getting Lost, by
Stephanie Rosenbloom.
February
5, 2015. Part Two of my interview with Professor
Sawyer-Laucanno, in which we discuss the
difference between Eastern and Western
philosophy, the writing of poetry, the authors
Thomas Bernhard and Octavio Paz, the philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the Zen master Dogen
Zenji. Paying
Attention. Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno
Discusses His New Book of Poems, The
Mussoorie-Montague Miscellany.
Evergreen Review. February 2013. Book
review of
Kerouac Ascending: Memorabilia of the Decade of
On the Road by Elbert Lenrow.
Rain Taxi Review of Books. August 2012. An essay
on the most important banned book in American
literary history: Abandoning
Hope to Discover Life: Commemorating the
51st Anniversary of the Grove Press Edition
of "Tropic of Cancer," with a Special
Tribute to Barney Rosset.
Chloe
Potter Interviews Rob Couteau on
the death of Ray Bradbury. A radio
interview, first broadcast on 6 June
2012 by the international media
conglomerate, Monocle 24, based in
London.
Read
my essay on marching with the protestors of
Occupy Wall Street, featured in the spring 2012
Evergreen Review: To Crush a Butterfly on the
Wheel of a Tank.
Mourning
the loss of a great publisher: Barney Rosset.
I'm honored to be published in the last issue of
the Evergreen Review that was edited by
him (spring 2012). The former owner of Grove
Press and the first American publisher of Henry
Miller and Samuel Beckett, Barney led the legal
battle to publish D. H. Lawrence's unexpurgated
"Lady Chatterley's Lover" and Henry Miller's Tropic
of Cancer, defending the latter in over 60
obscenity trials all the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court and changing book publishing history
forever. He continued to produce the Evergreen
Review and he would have turned 90 in May
2012.
In
January 2012, I was invited to participate in a
Critical Symposium on Last Exit to Brooklyn
author Hubert Selby, sponsored by his ebook
publisher, Open Road Media. Read my
contribution: Hubert Selby: The Counterpoint to
the Demon is Love. (This essay is now featured
in my book, More Collected Couteau.)
|
Accolades
& reviews of Rob Couteau's work
"Doctor
Pluss is exceptionally well developed and emotionally
compelling, connecting metaphorical description with
experienes s that often challenge the traditional roles of
doctor and patient, linking them in unexpected ways …
Couteau is not afraid to push the literary boundaries of
convention in pursuit of a different form of descriptive
truth, bringing readers along in a rollicking ride through
schizophrenic experience that ultimately questions the
foundations of reality and perception from both sides of the
therapist's couch … His interpretations and descriptions of
the schizophrenic experience are particularly astute,
astonishing, and evocatively described … Readers who choose
Doctor Pluss are in for a treat. It's like One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest on steroids: a thought-provoking examination
of sanity, insanity, and the crossover process that leaves
readthinking long after this therapeutic slice of life is
consumed."
-- Diane Donovan, Midwest
Book Review, April 2020.
Michael
Webster, editor of Spring:
The Journal of the E. E. Cummings Society, reviews
the essay "On the Trail of the ‘Elusive’ Lillian and
Marion Morehouse. Unraveling the Genealogical Mysteries
of the World's First Supermodel," by Rob Couteau. This
essay first appeared in print in More
Collected Couteau. December 2016.
|
More
Collected Couteau: "The joy of reading
Couteau's works lies as much in his penetrating,
crystalline language as it does in the works or
figures being examined, and so readers receive a
wide-ranging treat that examines victims,
vengeance, mortality and immortality through an
inspection process that educates even those
unfamiliar with the subject [...] Readers seeking
not just a literary presentation but a lively
analysis of selected wordsmiths and their lives
and influences must add More Collected Couteau to
their reading lists. It's a powerful presentation
that offers much insight and food for thought, and
which should find its way into many a college
classroom as well." -- Diane Donovan, Midwest Book
Review, March 2016.
"Couteau's
essays are informal, fervent, and well-versed
examinations of the work or author at hand. At
their best, they include fascinating insights into
the significance of a writer like [Hubert]
Selby.... The interviews are uniformly strong and
include conversations with Michael Korda on T.E.
Lawrence, Justin Kaplan on Walt Whitman, and
Robert Roper on Vladimir Nabokov. Not all of them
focus on literature: author Jeffrey Jackson covers
the 1910 flood of Paris and why it's relatively
forgotten, and Robert De Sena, in one of the best
interviews, discusses his life as a gang member
turned community activist. Couteau's passion and
wealth of knowledge are obvious throughout the
book ... and should appeal to many readers." --
Publishers Weekly, BookLife, February 2016.
|
|
Portraits
from the Revolution: Interviews with the
Protestors from Occupy Wall Street, 30 September
- 8 October 2011: "Most American readers
will harbor a prior, casual familiarity with the
Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 based on
newspaper headlines and events of the times; but
for a more in-depth survey of the philosophies,
approaches, and concerns of the protests,
Portraits from the Revolution: Interviews with the
Protestors from Occupy Wall Street, 30 September -
8 October 2011 is the item of choice, offering
unprecedented depth and detail on the history and
lasting impact of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Rob Couteau conducted a series of interviews with
movement leaders; and while one might think the
contents of these pieces would have been reported
by the media - they were not. It's also important
to note that Portraits from the Revolution remains
the only in-depth text interview of participants
that is available: so if readers wish to gain more
than a casual news report's insights, Portraits
from the Revolution is the item of choice.
Chapters explore not just each individual's
actions, but their backgrounds, reasons for
participating in Occupy Wall Street, and their
experiences, and offers criticism of media
reporting of the movement's history, intentions,
and approaches.
From how participants decided to react to violent
antagonism against the Occupy movement to the
social and political ramifications of not just
Occupy but the elements it opposed, these
interviews capture participants from all walks of
life, from teens to full-time workers, and turns
the newspaper reports into a series of personal
vignettes about Occupy's deeper meaning.
Any who would better understand the events and the
meaning behind news reports must turn to Portraits
from the Revolution for a clearer vision of the
'why and how' of the times." -- Diane Donovan,
Midwest Book Review, November 2015.
|
The Sleeping Mermaid: "Novelist and
literary enthusiast Rob Couteau brings readers
part of his love with The Sleeping Mermaid, a
book of flowing poetry and thought that asks
plenty of questions and offers plenty of
answers. The Sleeping Mermaid is a poetry
collection well worth considering. 'Muse ... She
is constant / like a steady stream; / only my
cup / may falter.' -- Midwest Book Review.
August 2010. Review
of The Sleeping Mermaid, by Willis M.
Buhle.
|
Times
Herald Record. Feb 14, 2010.
Best Bets for Sunday. A review of my recent painting
exhibit.
"Intellectual
freshness, richness and potency ... Couteau is an
impressively creative writer, whom Barney Rosset
urged me to review." -- Jim Feast, former
assistant editor of the Evergreen Review,
who
reviewed my novel, Doctor Pluss, and
my literary anthology, Collected Couteau,
for the Evergreen Review in 2009.
Barney Rosset, the former owner of Grove Press and
the first American publisher of Henry Miller,
Samuel Beckett, and Jean Genet, led the legal
battle to publish D. H. Lawrence's Lady
Chatterley's Lover and Miller's Tropic
of Cancer. He continued to publish the Evergreen
Review online until his death in 2012.
"It's been a very interesting interview.
You asked some really interesting questions." -
Hubert Selby, author of Last Exit to Brooklyn,
commenting on his interview with me in 1999, later
featured in Collected Couteau.
Doctor
Pluss: "Amazingly beautiful, haunting prose.
It's a great book." - Christopher
Sawyer-Lauçanno, author of The Continual
Pilgrimage: American Writers in Paris
(Grove Press), commenting on the novel Doctor
Pluss.
|
Interviews
Dichtung Yammer: August 2021.
Emanations
of Pan, an interview with poet, publisher,
and literary critic Ed Foster.
KennedysandKing: September 2019.
The
Tragic ‘Years of Lead’: Puppetmasters Author Philip
Willan Talks about the Manipulation of Terrorism, the
Global War on the Left, and the Links between the JFK
and Aldo Moro Assassinations.
June
2018: Audio interview with Picasso's model and muse: Sylvette
David talks about her paintings in a conversation with
Rob Couteau
Rain
Taxi Review: Spring 2018.
Remembering
the Magic Year: An Interview with Danny Goldberg,
January
2018: An
Interview with Picasso's Famous Model and Muse, Sylvette
David: 'The Woman with the Key.'
October
2016. ‘If
you are a poet, you help other poets.’ A Conversation
with the Poet, Publisher, and Literary Historian Edward
Halsey Foster.
August
2015. A
Conversation with Robert Roper, author of
Nabokov in America: On the Road to Lolita
July 2015. An
interview with biographer James Dempsey, author of The
Tortured Life of Scofield Thayer.
February
2015. Paying
Attention. Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno Discusses His New
Book of Poems, The Mussoorie-Montague Miscellany.
September 2014. The
Miracle of Unity. Peace Mediator Robert J. De Sena
Discusses How He Offers Gang Members a Way Out.
Emerging Civil War. October 2011.
An
Interview with Robert Roper, author of the
groundbreaking Now the Drum of War: Walt
Whitman and His Brothers in the Civil War.
Listen to an excerpt.
Rain Taxi
Review of Books. December 2010.
Remembering
the Deluge: An Interview with Jeffrey H. Jackson,
author of the widely acclaimed Paris Under Water
and Making Jazz French. Listen to an excerpt.
Rain Taxi Review of Books. Summer 2010.
The
Charmed Life: A Conversation with Michael Korda.
The former editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, and
one of the most influential people in the recent history
of publishing, Korda is also the author of the
biographies Ike and Ulysses S. Grant. Listen to an excerpt.
Rain Taxi Review of Books. June 2008.
Albert
Hofmann: An Appreciation. A brief interview with the
discoverer of LSD. The last interview ever
conducted with Dr. Hofmann, who died two weeks later at
the age of 102. Listen to an excerpt.
Rain Taxi Review of Books (Online). Dec. 1999.
Defining
the Sacred: Author Hubert Selby on Spirituality, The
Creative Will, and Love. Selby's Last Exit to
Brooklyn was banned in the UK in 1967, leading to
a landmark trial in England.
Listen to an excerpt:
The Bloomsbury Review. Mar. 1991.
The
Biographer of Paul Bowles & Other Expatriates
Talks about Writing the Outsider's Story: An Interview
with Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno. Listen
to an excerpt.
The Paris Voice. Mar. 1991.
Paul
Bowles: An Invisible Spectator: A Conversation with
Biographer Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno.
Quantum: Science Fiction & Fantasy Review.
Spring 1991.
An
Interview with Ray Bradbury. Listen
to an excerpt.
The Paris Voice. Nov. 1990.
Ray
Bradbury's Romance of Places. An Interview with Ray
Bradbury.
Poetry
Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry
and Poetics, February 2020.
A
collection of fourteen prose poems.
Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry
and Poetics, January
2018.
Five poems from various collections.
Mochila Review. Spring 2011.
Cobblestones.
-
Nothing but.
Out of Our. February 2011.
The
Sleeping Mermaid.
-
The Sixties.
The Rockhurst Review. Spring
2010.
The
blue heron.
Xanadu. Fall 2009.
Your
ears.
Blueline. Spring 2009.
Alphabet.
Colere. Spring 2009.
Standing
with the Fraulein.
Passager magazine. Spring 2009.
Heaven.
The Taylor Trust. Feb. 2009.
The
twenty-ninth bather.
--
All around the world.
White Pelican Review. Spring 2007.
The
existentialists.
The Alembic. Spring 2007.
Allen
Ginsberg.
North Stone Review. 2001.
In the Marais.
Versitude. Fall 1998.
In
her white dress.
--
Strawberries.
Footwork: The Paterson Literary Review. Spring
1993.
Will
you walk with me tonight?
--
Your picture on the wall.
Z Miscellaneous. Summer 1990.
The
existentialists.
Z Miscellaneous. Spring 1990.
This city and I.
Z Miscellaneous. Summer 1989.
In Paris.
Z Miscellaneous. Sep. 1988.
Edda
Marie soon to leave.
--
While you were away.
Z Miscellaneous. May 1988.
Beethoveniana
Edda Marie.
--
Edda in Argentina.
Footwork '88:
A Literary Collection of Contemporary Poetry,
Short Fiction and Art. Spring 1988.
Edda
in Argentina.
--
Beethoveniana Edda Marie.
The Cutting Edge. 1988.
Without women.
New Leaves Review. 1987.
Angels
and imbeciles.
Heavenbone. 1987.
This morning I dreamt I was Nietzsche in the insane
asylum.
The Garden State. 1987.
At Jim Morrison's grave in Pere Lachaise.
Fiction
Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry
and Poetics." February 2020. The
Cantankerous Krishnamurti, a reminisce about the
renowned philosopher and author, Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry
and Poetics.
January 2019.
Crawling
King Snake.
Autonomedia, NY, October 2017: "The American
Dream in Reverse."
Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry
and Poetics,
January 2017.
Three
prose excerpts from a work in progress.
Psychological Poems: Journal of Outsider
Poetry. 2009.
Portrait
of a Cat Remedy, an excerpt
from the novel, Doctor Pluss.
Rockhurst Review. Spring
2007.
Portrait
of a Cat Remedy, an excerpt
from the novel, Doctor Pluss.
Hawaii Pacific Review.
Fall 2002.
Sublunary
Delights, an excerpt
from the novel, Doctor Pluss.
Chrysalis. Spring 1990.
A Reader's Journey.
Essays
& Letters
November 2021: Garrison: A Journal of
History and Deep Politics.
"Politics as (Un)usual:
Stanley J. Marks and Coup d’tat!"
KennedysandKing.com. June 2020.
Stanley
J. Marks and Murder Most Foul!—A Sequel to “The
Kennedy / Dylan Sensation.”
KennedysandKing.com. July 2019.
NATO’s Secret Armies, Operation Gladio, and JFK.
Worcester Review. November 2016.
The Anglo-French Connection: A Brief Foray into the
Maternal Genealogy of Scofield Thayer.
MarionMorehouse.com. May 2015.
On the Trail of the 'Elusive' Lillian and Marion
Morehouse. Unraveling the genealogical mysteries of
the world's first supermodel.
Rain
Taxi Review of Books (Online). August 2012.
Abandoning
Hope to Discover Life: Commemorating the 51st
Anniversary of the Grove Press Edition of "Tropic of
Cancer," with a Special Tribute to Barney Rosset.
Open Road Integrated Media. January 2012.
Hubert Selby Jr: The
Counterpoint to the Demon Is Love.
Cadillac Cicatrix. Winter 2008.
The
Prisoner.
Spring: A Journal of Archetype and Culture.
1988.
Jungian
Social Neglect.
Anima: An Experimental Journal. Fall 1986.
The World End: An Eternal Paradigm and Current Crisis.
Croton Review. 1986.
Reflections
on Paul Klee's 'Lost in Thought.'
The Humanist. March/April 1986.
Must World-mindedness Destroy National Identity?
West Hills Review: A Walt Whitman Journal.
1985.
A
Sort of Visitor in Life.
Lapis. 1985.
The Doctor as a Catalyst of Illness: Treatment Induced
Psychosis.
Book reviews
Evergreen Review. February 2013. Kerouac Ascending:
Memorabilia of the Decade of On the Road by Elbert
Lenrow.
Tygers
of Wrath, 2006. Wounded
Healer. A review of Claire Dunne's CARL JUNG: WOUNDED
HEALER OF THE SOUL and Jane Cabot Reid's JUNG, MY
MOTHER AND I. THE ANALYTIC DIARIES OF CATHERINE RUSH
CABOT.
Lift Magazine. 1993.
THE
CONTINUAL PILGRIMAGE: AMERICAN WRITERS IN PARIS,
1944-1960, by Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno.
The Paris Voice. April 1993.
THE
CONTINUAL PILGRIMAGE: AMERICAN WRITERS IN PARIS,
1944-1960, by Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno.
The Bloomsbury Review: A Book Magazine.
Apr./May 1991.
First
Fictions: New First Novels & Short Story
Collections: TEA IN THE HAREM, by Mehdi Charef,
Translated by Ed Emery.
--
FROM ROCKAWAY, by Jill Eisenstadt.
--
TONI, by Fiorella de Luca Calce.
The Paris Voice. Feb. 1991.
GUILTY
OF EVERYTHING:
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HERBERT HUNCKE.
The European: Europe's First National
Newspaper. Jan. 4-6, 1991.
Anatomy
of Hatred: UNE PETITE VILLE EN FRANCE, by Francoise
Gaspard.
The European: Europe's First National
Newspaper. Nov. 9-11, 1990.
Signs
of the times: ROLAND BARTHES, by L.J. Calvet.
The European: Europe's First National
Newspaper. Oct. 12-14, 1990.
Love
and Confession: LE MIROIR AUX TIROIRS, by Jacques
Laurent.
The European: Europe's First National
Newspaper. Sep. 7-9, 1990.
Abandoned
Love: SUR UN AIR DE FETE, by Francois-Marie Banier.
The Bloomsbury Review: A Book Magazine.
May/Jun. 1990
REDISCOVERIES
II: Essays on Forgotten Works of Fiction, Ed. by David
Madden & Peggy Back.
--
THE DEMON and THE ROOM, by Hubert Selby.
The Bloomsbury Review: A Book Magazine.
Mar./Apr. 1990.
--
THE FAR SIDE OF MADNESS, by John Weir Perry.
-- EROS
AND PATHOS, by Aldo Carentenuto.
--
THE HOMELESS MENTALLY ILL, ed. H. Richard Lamb, M.D.
--
SCHIZOPHRENIA: Treatment, Process and Outcome, by
Thomas H. Mc Glashan, M.D. and Christopher J. Keats,
M.D.
The Bloomsbury Review: A Book Magazine.
Sep./Oct. 1989.
ALCHEMY
IN A MODERN WOMAN: A Study in the Contrasexual
Archetype, by Robert Grinnell.
The Bloomsbury Review: A Book Magazine.
March/April 1989.
Encountering
Mortality: FULL MEASURE: Modern Short Stories on
Aging, ed. Dorothy Sennett.
--
Violence Against the Self: THE BETRAYAL OF THE SELF:
The Fear of Autonomy in Men and Women, by Arno Gruen.
Arete: Forum For Thought. March/April 1989.
LIBRA,
by Don Delillo.
Arete: Forum For Thought. Dec. 1988.
LOVE
IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Arete: Forum For Thought. Aug./Sep. 1988.
THE
MUSTACHE, by Emmanuel Carrere.
--
A LITERATE PASSION: Letters of Anais Nin and Henry
Miller, 1932-1953.
Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. Fall
1987.
MENTAL
HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL POLICY, ed. Phil Brown.
The Bloomsbury Review: A Book Magazine. March
1986.
Sense,
Sensibility & the Solitary Child: THE ULTIMATE
STRANGER: The Autistic Child, by Carl H. Delacato, MD.
The Confluent Education Journal. Fall 1985.
THE BROKEN BRAIN: The Biological Revolution in
Psychiatry by Nancy C. Andreason, MD.
Nice. Spring 1981.
REFLECTIONS,
by Henry Miller, Ed. by Twinka Thiebaud.
Journalism
Tygers of Wrath. Portraits
from the Revolution, Part One: In-depth Interviews
with the Protestors from Occupy Wall Street, Liberty
Square, Conducted on 30 September 2011.
Evergreen Review. February 2012.
To Crush a Butterfly on the Wheel of a Tank: Why
Americans Must Take to the Streets. A Personal Essay on
Marching with the Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators on 5
October 2011. Portraits of the Revolution from Occupy
Wall Street, Liberty Square, Part Two.
Tygers
of Wrath. A
Pratt University Art Student, a Volunteer Librarian, a
"Grandmother for Peace," a Teamster, and an
Ironworker. What Do They All Have in Common? Portraits
of the Revolution from Occupy Wall Street, Liberty
Square, Part Three.
Tygers
of Wrath. October 2011. An
Interview with William Scott, Author of Troublemakers:
Power, Representation, and the Fiction of the Mass
Worker. Portraits of the Revolution from Occupy
Wall Street, Liberty Square, Part Four.
The Paris Voice. Dec. 1990/Jan. 1991.
Allen
Ginsberg's 'Family' Album Exhibited.
The Paris Voice. Oct. 1990.
Benefit Readings at Shakespeare & Co.
Venice Magazine. Sep. 1990.
Tumbleweed
Hotel Ablaze:
The Venerable Shakespeare and Company
Suffers Irreparable Damage.
Interviews with Rob Couteau
WAMC
Radio, The
Best of Our Knowledge. 18
April 2022.
Bob Barrett interviews Rob Couteau about his
new book, "A Blind Man
Crazy for Color," a biography of the art
collector Léon Angély.
Black Op Radio. 15 December 2020.Len Osanic interviews Rob Couteau
about his reissuing of the book MURDER MOST FOUL!
THE CONSPIRACY THAT MURDERED PRESIDENT KENNEDY by
Stanley J Marks. Stanley's daughter Bobbie Marks,
who assisted Couteau in his research, was also on
the program.
Black
Op Radio. 30 July 2020.
Len Osanic interviews Rob Couteau about his essay
"Stanley J. Marks and Murder Most Foul" published at
KennedysandKIng.com.
Black Op Radio. 18 July 2019.
Len Osanic interviews Rob Couteau about his essay
"NATO’s Secret Armies, Operation Gladio, and JFK"
published at KennedysandKIng.com.
Monocle24. June 2012,
Chloe
Potter Interviews Rob Couteau on the death
of Ray Bradbury. A radio interview, first
broadcast on 6 June 2012 by the international
media conglomerate, Monocle 24, based in London.
HV Biz. March 1, 2010.
Off
the Palette: Rob Couteau.
Netsurf. Le magazine Internet. May 1998.
Portrait
Robert Couteau. Un americain a Paris.
Awards
"Must World-mindedness Destroy National
Identity?" Winner of the 1985 North American Essay
Award; annual competition sponsored by the American
Humanist Association, open to writers living in North
America. Essay published in The Humanist magazine.
Collected works
A
Blind Man Crazy for Color
More
Collected Couteau
Collected
Couteau
Doctor
Pluss
poems from the late twentieth century
(Far Rockaway, NY: Ipana Press, 1978.)
Cited in books &
periodicals
by other authors
Par instants,
le sol penche bizarrement, by
Nicolas Richard (Robert Laffont, 2021).
KennedysandKing.com,
April 2019.
The
Mysterious Life and Death of James W. McCord,
by James DiEugenio.
The
New York Times, April 16, 2015.
Reclaiming
the Age-Old Art of Getting Lost, by
Stephanie Rosenbloom.
Allen
Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac Correspondance
(1944-1969).
Trad. de l'anglais (États-Unis) par Nicolas
Richard.
Édition et introduction de Bill Morgan et
David Stanford.
Sélection française de Josée Kamoun
(Collection Du monde entier, Gallimard, 2014.)
Transpersonal
Astrology: Explorations at the Frontier,
by Armand Diaz, Eric Meyers and Andrew Smith
(Integral Transformation, 2013).
The Chicago Reader, June 7, 2012.
The
Realness of Ray Bradbury, by Drew Hunt.
Review Review, Spring 2012.
Prose
and Poetry With Social Conscience.
Review of Evergreen Review, by Brenna
Dixon.
SF:
The Sci-Fi Literature Genius Guide
(Imagine Publishing, 2011),
Senses of Cinema, Issue 57, summer
2010.
Fahrenheit
451: A Brave New World for the New Man,
by Pedro Blas Gonzalez.
Contemporary
Irish Music for Classic Guitar Solo,
by John Feeley (Mel Bay Publications, 2009).
Revolution 1821 Economics: Greek Modern
Economic History,
by Gregory Zorzos (CreateSpace, 2009).
The Age of the Female: A Thousand Years
of Yin,
by Richard Andrew King (Richard King
Publications, 2008).
California Literary Review, March 2007.
Fahrenheit 451: Avatar of the New Man, by
Pedro Blas Gonzalez.
Gabriel
Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera:
A Reader's Guide,
by Thomas Fahy (London: Continuum International
Publishing Group, 2007).
Qualitative
Data Analysis: An Introduction,
by Carol Grbich (London: Sage Publications,
2007).
Popular
Contemporary Writers, by Michael D Sharp
(Marshall Cavendish, 2006).
The
No Plot? No Problem! Novel-Writing Kit,
by Chris Baty (San Francisco: Chronicle Books,
2006).
Ray
Bradbury: Uncensored! The Unauthorized
Biography,
by Gene Beley (iUniverse, 2006).
100
Most Popular Genre Fiction Authors:
Biographical Sketches and Bibliographies,
by Bernard A. Drew (Libraries Unlimited, 2005).
The
Astrology of Film: The Interface of Movies,
Myth, and Archetype, by Jeffrey Kishner
(iUniverse, 2004).
El Pais Digital, April 16, 2004
(Montevideo, Uruguay).
NUEVOS
CUENTOS DE RAY BRADBURY. La vuelta completa,
by Elvio E. Gandolfo.
Poughkeepsie Journal. March 2, 2004.
West might face charges for marrying gays.
Authorities
explore legal options, by Gabriel J. Wasserman.
Dal
Segno al fine: románové podoby Erosa, by
Peter Michalovic
(Petrus, 2003).
The
Writer's Handbook, 2004, by Elfreida Abbe
(Waukesha, WI: Writer, Inc., 2003).
PsyArt. An online journal for the
psychological study of the arts. 2002.
The Mandala Experience : Visions of
the Center in Schizophrenic and Fictional
Accounts of Disintegration, by Leslie Trueman.
The
Response to Allen Ginsberg, 1926-1994:
A Bibliography of Secondary Sources, by
Bill Morgan
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996).
Forgotten
Millions, by David Cohen (Boulder, CO:
Paladin, 1988).
In Library Collections
The Special Collections of the
following libraries
have noncirculating copies of
poems from the late twentieth century:
New York University;
Yale University Library;
Colby College;
Michigan State University Libraries;
Northwestern University;
UCLA Library
_________________________
Since 1998.
Copyright © 2022 Rob
Couteau
"The tygers of wrath are wiser than the
horses of instruction."
- William Blake
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