{"id":10297,"date":"2025-06-08T20:36:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=10297"},"modified":"2025-06-08T20:57:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:57:58","slug":"university-of-kentucky-1996-poem-review-by-sophie-gentry","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/university-of-kentucky-1996-poem-review-by-sophie-gentry\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Kentucky (1996)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jim Carroll at U of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
29 January 1996
Poem-review by Sophie Gentry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

letter to jim carroll<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

dear sir 
i lined up with all your fans 
like a fan 
though ashamed to say i’ve never read the b-ball diaries 
not seen the film and don’t know if i will 
only heard 
thrice-personed accounts of spiked arms 
why are drugs and booze so intricately seductive to the likes of you, 
and me 

and i lined up with the book bought the day before 
and not read 
and i lined up with friends carrying cd booklets, 
dogeared copies of forced entries, 
with your face and your words packed inside 
and i saw people i didn’t know, but probably should 
and i lined up listening to people talk: 
talk about “Jim”, about you, as though you grew up next door with Jesus, 
and does everyone call you Jim, 
–Jim used to live with Patti Smith and… 
someone else, whom i forget now but shouldn’t 
–Jim is on the faculty at Naropa, but I never saw him there 
and more and more and more on the construction 
and institutionalization of Ginsberg, 
Kerouac et. al. (and i suppose that includes you) 

and i lined up, fiddling with the cover of my book, your book 
knowing i’d read it later 
folding the cover back and forth 
back and forth 

and finally we shuffled up, handed over the goods, got the mark that’ll make us 
rich one day OUR INVESTMENT (cheaper than a lifetime of lottery tickets) 
and it only cost me $15, a ride to Lexington, and one evening 

one evening of words 
that were flat type in museumed books 
until you smashed their glass cases and flung them out 
in a breathless game of one-on-800… 

give or take a few <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Sophie Gentry is a poet from Louisville, Kentucky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Carroll at U of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)29 January 1996Poem-review by Sophie Gentry letter to jim carroll dear sir i lined up with all your fans like a fan though ashamed to say i’ve never read the b-ball diaries not seen the film and don’t know if i will only heard thrice-personed accounts of spiked arms why are drugs and booze so … Continue reading University of Kentucky (1996)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3985,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-10297","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2G5","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4459,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-carroll-at-40-watt\/","url_meta":{"origin":10297,"position":0},"title":"Jim Carroll at 40 Watt","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Home > Research > Performance Reviews > Review of Jim Carroll at 40 Watt (Athens, GA), 1996 Jim Carroll at 40 Watt Athens, GA, 12 April 1996 Review by Kati Baugh Shortly after 10:30 p.m. on April 12, 1996, I made my way to the 40-WattClub near the University of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10280,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-carroll-at-the-cotton-club-atlanta-ga-1996-review-by-michelle-webb\/","url_meta":{"origin":10297,"position":1},"title":"Jim Carroll at The Cotton Club, Atlanta, GA, (1996 ) – Review by Michelle Webb","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Jim Carroll at The Cotton Club Atlanta, GA, 13 April 1996Review by\u00a0Michelle Webb Cotton Club (1996) - Autographed Ticket Stub - Jerry Leveillee My friends and I arrived a little after 9 pm for the Jim Carroll\/Viva laDiva show at the Cotton Club - I wanted to be sure that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/ticket.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4212,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carrolls-interviews\/interview-jim-carroll\/","url_meta":{"origin":10297,"position":2},"title":"Interview: Jim Carroll","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Curtis WaterburyPortland CitySearch.com\u00a01 October 1999 Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the Fat With a new rock album in stores, a new book of poetry on the shelves and two novels in the works, Jim Carroll, 49, is hitting middle age with a confident stride\u2014not to mention a cult-like status.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the Fat","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/poolspromo2.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/poolspromo2.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/poolspromo2.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/poolspromo2.gif?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10166,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-carroll-at-hothouse-chicago-1999-review-by-j-a-carpenter\/","url_meta":{"origin":10297,"position":3},"title":"Hothouse, Chicago (1999)","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Jim Carroll\u00a0at HothouseChicago, IL (5\/8\/99)Review by\u00a0J. A. Carpenter Well, Jim Carroll fans, dig this... I saw Jim Carroll in Chicago at the Hothouse...and it was awful and amazing all at the same time. Bad omens everywhere. I wonder what Jim will tell Cassie or what he has told her but\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4214,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carrolls-interviews\/having-words-with-jim-carroll\/","url_meta":{"origin":10297,"position":4},"title":"Having Words With . . . Jim Carroll","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Detroit.CitySearch.com, 2000 With a new rock album in stores, a new book of poetry on the shelves and two novels in the works, Jim Carroll, 49, is hitting middle age with a confident stride not to mention a cult-like status. 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