Little Boy: A Novel

Fans of Ferlinghetti and the Beats will be delighted by this new memoir. Ferlinghetti, at this writing, is one-hundred years old and lives in San Francisco at City Lights Bookstore, which he founded. The first pages of this memoir are written in straightforward prose, which is interesting and delightful. His early childhood reads like a fairy tale. The rest of the book showcases his familiar stream of consciousness style. I hoped for an island in the midst of word associations where I could get my bearings and find a sense of story. Of course, Ferlinghetti is a great poet, so he can be excused his indulgences. The word stream in the second paragraph of page 13 is delightful and speaks of his “word hoard.” Anyone who delights in the erudite use of language will enjoy this book, but this is a mixed bag for me.

The cover illustration by John Gray is wonderful. It depicts the little boy still inside the grown man. And yes, that is the core of this book. The playfulness and intelligence of the Beats is resonant to this day.