Great Demon Kings: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment

A posthumous memoir by the New York poet and performer John Giorno (1936-2019), written as an account of his life in poetry, sex, art, death and Buddhist practice.

The memoir is a run of lovers, teachers and friends. Giorno recounts his relationship with Andy Warhol, which began when he appeared in Warhol's 1964 film Sleep, and affairs with Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, the latter during the years of Dial-A-Poem. William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg recur throughout, Ginsberg turning up even on Giorno's trip to India in search of enlightenment. The book also covers his Tibetan Buddhist practice, his place among the Beats and the New York avant-garde, and the AIDS Treatment Project he founded in 1984. Farrar, Straus and Giroux published it in 2020. Kirkus Reviews called it upbeat, funny and unsparing.

Giorno founded Giorno Poetry Systems in 1965 to present poetry through recordings, performances and other media, and in 1969 he started the telephone project Dial-A-Poem. He was married to the artist Ugo Rondinone. This memoir is the fullest account of that career in his own words.