Seeing Shelley Plain

The memoirs of Robert Wilson, owner of the Phoenix Book Shop, describe how between 1962 and 1968 he transformed a small, obscure Greenwich Village book shop into a world-famous literary haven. Wilson writes of his long friendships with literary figures such as Marianne Moore and W.H. Auden, among others, and provides mini-biographies of many famous Beat Generation poets, including Allen Ginsberg, Diane di Prima, Gregory Corso, and Michael McClure. The book includes photos of some of these celebrated authors and poets from the author's private collection, and a list of titles published by the Phoenix Book Shop. An index would have been helpful. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)