FRIENDS IN THE WORLD: The Education of...

FRIENDS IN THE WORLD: The Education of a Writer by Aram Saroyan (Coffee House Press: $11.95, illustrated). Poet Aram Saroyan (the son of playwright/novelist William Saroyan) offers his rather carefree recollections of the ‘60s underground poetry scene in this pleasant, superficial memoir. Saroyan maintains “The sixties was about happiness.” Ignoring the political and racial turmoil of the decade, he recalls the happy years he spent writing, teaching, getting stoned and hanging out with other determinedly up-and-coming writers: “We were, in essence, knocking around together, learning the parameters of the scene and at the same time keeping up each other’s courage with our companionship.” This insouciant vision seems both naive and dated in the grim era of the New World Order. Saroyan doesn’t seem to notice that the legacy of the ‘60s has shrunk and that the reputations of the poets he praises have ebbed. He writes in an agreeably conversational tone, but the book’s erratic structure forces the reader to flip back and forth in an effort to figure out when and where various incidents occurred.