Unspoken GeniusReal Detroit probes the mind of a true Renaissance man. REAL Detroit: Why did Jim Carroll: Well readings is In the old days there were certain I’ve made certain concessions. The other thing I started to get But aside from that, the other thing Most of the poems I read now are RD: Entertaining. JC: Yeah. But it brings more The whole thing of spoken word being It always angered me when critics RD: Do you think that poetry JC: Yeah. I think so, I mean I think it makes it all more I have this new audience of kids who RD: When you wrote The Basketball Diaries and when they were subsequently published, did you have any idea the JC: No. When I wrote them I Then they had a prose issue of this Then the people at the Paris Review When I started to do music I looked The way its gone on through other I remember when I first published it I know when Bantam first published Whenever I do booksignings people It’s also one of the most RD: Wow, that’s cool. JC: Yeah it’s kind of RD: Does it bother you that JC: Yes. That’s why RD: Do you think of yourself JC: Yeah I always thought of With rock and roll it was a complete With prose, I have a sense of prose I think if I was starting all over When Harmony Korine first sent me a Richie Price, who’s a big RD: You worked with and hung JC: Well not really. I mean RD: Both, I mean you were JC: Well yeah. Poetry-wise I In poetry I wanted to get away from But with Patti when I first knew her Her poems to me were much better, My only connection when I was in Then people like Richard Hell, who Of course all the poets like Ted All those people were influences on RD: When you got started in JC: I had to put the writer The thing I really always liked But when I started to actually do It wasn’t really that hard. It And then by my third album and when There were certain nights I just RD: Recently you’ve JC: Not really. They were I don’t know, it’s a I didn’t really know The only thing about, and it RD: It’s more natural JC: Yeah. Just as far as the RD: A lot of great art JC: (laughs) I guess because When I was doing a lot of hard drugs I can’t drink at all. I cannot I see it with certain writers where Artists are always going to look for I can’t smoke grass in New RD: There’s crappy grass JC: Well, that’s what I RD: You’ve been called JC: I never heard anybody RD: Well I think this guy was JC: I don’t really see RD: Almost as if you had put JC: Yeah, I was dancing RD: Growing up Catholic is JC: Yeah absolutely I think But I do think that whole blood as a But the hideous part, I mean I liked I thought that was a big mistake. I All these things are ingrained in my I’ve learned a lot from RD: New York City is also JC: Well it’s terrible. Even the outer Boroughs, after San Francisco’s kind of the I felt really blessed to always have RD: Do you miss that JC: Well I think it still But that sense of community is still RD: If there was fire and you JC: Actually I was in an Somebody played to the Dalai Lama If I had to take a third thing ©2000 Real Detroit Weekly The original interview was found at http://getrealdetroit.com/archives/011300/carroll.htm
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