Rating: 
Summary: Ferlinghetti's Best
Review: A Coney Island of the Mind is an unpretentious vision of our decaying society through the eyes of one of the most prolific writers of this century, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The language is like jazz, one wants to hear Ferlinghetti reading this book out loud accompanied by Bird Parker, Sonny Rollins or Charly Hayden. A Remarkable book.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: A Coney Island of the Mind is one of the definitive works of the beatnik generation. Ferlinghetti has managed to combine unique phrasing to the beat of certain jazz to create a world of images, beautiful and strange. The ideas he conveys are that of the art of travel; finding the true artistic voices of the time and allowing them to ring out; and ridding ourselves of the empty thought that has penetrated, not only our minds, but our souls. I believe that the beautiful and creative way he presents his art will keep A Coney Island of the Mind a must-read for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: A real treat for the lover of words.
Review: AAAHHHHH! No one has ever topped Ferlinghetti for his exciting rhythm and electric presentation. Read this collection and discover how much FUN poetry can be. I first discovered these poems in the late '60s, an amazing time to be alive, and I felt that these poems captured some of that spirit uniquely and forever. What I didn't realize was that they also fit in perfectly with the '50s, and later in the '70s, the '80s, and the '90s, as well. And here we are in yet another century and the work holds up better than ever! Whatever you do, READ THEM ALOUD!
Rating: 
Summary: Unlike others, I am not impressed
Review: After purchasing this book on recommendation of a good friend I was highly expectant - almost excited. I expected a labyrinth of capturing poems and prose. I am highly surprised at what I did receive however. Compared to Emily Dickinson, Wilfred Owen and other such greats, this poetry did not strike me at all.
I recognise that it is popular with many but for people who expect poetry to be colourful, captivating, evoking and grasping, what is delivered here are consistently unrecognisable words and phrases (my interpretation - yours may be different), not related to personal experiences that hurt, entertain or allow poetry to be written effectively.
Whilst the poet is well recognised and I have no problem with people who are fans of Lawrence, I am not impressed at his inability to make be breathe sharply and say "Goodness. This poem has affected me in an emotional way". Sorry about these comments, but it is what I feel.
Rating:
Summary: The soul has its rages
Review: Dogs are the true observers walking up and down the world. May we be dogs for moments and lapse into small insights to languish ever so slightly and come back to tell of it as eloquently as Ferlinghetti!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!
Review: Ferlinghetti has an uncanny ability to capture the essence of life in words. The title of his book, for instance: brilliant. Then there's phrases like "drugged store cowboy" (as opposed to drug store cowboy) and plenty of others! My favorite line is when a girl walks up to him at a club of some kind and says, "You and me could really exist." Little details like that are what makes Coney Island of the Mind a real treat. It's easy to read, but it's by no means simplistic.
Rating: 
Summary: His arms around the world.
Review: Ferlinghetti is a man with his arms around the world. These poems are still moving after more than 40 years. The poem I Am Waiting is typical of all the other writing in this small book. In this piece, he is waiting for a rebirth of wonder in man. The love of the innocence and of the wonder in his fellow man is a fine thing to say in poetry. Get outta here, Ferlinghetti!
Rating: 
Summary: Ferlinghetti was not all that great
Review: Ferlinghetti was in the right place at the right time for the Beat movement, but his poetry was far from influential or spectacular. If you read the poems in this book, you can see that he's having fun and not giving us this great thought-provoking message. He had his small book store in San Francisco and he had a printing press in the back. He had some mediocre poems and he figured, "Hey, I have a press, let me publish a book." And so he published a book. Ferlinghetti is better known for publishing Ginsberg's "Howl" among other, more influential and important works. Having read "Coney Island" cover to cover, I can only recall two pieces that stood out to me, whereas everything in "Howl and Other Poems" is memorable. Corso's "Gasoline" embodies the Beat spirit far better than "Coney Island" does, perhaps because Ferlinghetti was much older than most of the Beats and wasstylistically much different. "Coney Island" is a cheap book, and is worth looking through perhaps once, maybe twice. The poems are not that great in comparison to the rest of the Beat poetry out there. Ginsberg and Corso were far better poets. Ferlinghetti should be read for historical sake, perhaps to see proto-Beat poetry.
Rating:
Summary: Beginner's beat
Review: I'll begin by saying I'm not a big fan of beat poetry. I'm even less of a fan of mediocre beat poetry. While I'm not entirely comfortable calling Ferlinghetti's work "beat" in the strictest sense of the term (as if "beat" and "strict" should turn up in the same sentence), it is a sort of proto-beat which shows the promise (if you like beat poetry, "shadow" or "spectre" if you don't) of later poets. Nothing to scream about, but not the worse book of verse I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Beginner's beat
Review: I'll begin by saying I'm not a big fan of beat poetry. I'm even less of a fan of mediocre beat poetry. While I'm not entirely comfortable calling Ferlinghetti's work "beat" in the strictest sense of the term (as if "beat" and "strict" should turn up in the same sentence), it is a sort of proto-beat which shows the promise (if you like beat poetry, "shadow" or "spectre" if you don't) of later poets. Nothing to scream about, but not the worse book of verse I've ever read.
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