Amorousnightmares of delay

the long version

This volume brings together twenty-four of Frank O'Hara's plays, from one act dramas to brief "eclogues." While several were produced in New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts, most are intended as poetic works cast in dramatic form. With his interest in camp, collage, and dramatic and verse forms, O'Hara created characters that range from classical allusions (Daphnis and Chloe) to historical figures (Benjamin Franklin and a thinly disguised General Douglas MacArthur) to his own contemporaries (Jackson Pollack, Ted Berrigan, and others). Like collections of his poetry, Amorous Nightmares of Delay captures the irreverent voice and joyful lyricism of one of America's great authors. An introduction by O'Hara's longtime friend Joe LeSueur places the works in the context of New York's art and literary scene of the 1950s and early 1960s.