Essays and reviews that trace the changes in Ginsberg's career and in his poetry

This is the only volume to bring together all of Allen Ginsberg's published verse in its entirety, celebrating half a century of brilliant work from one of America's greatest poets. Presented chronologically, it sets Ginsberg's verse against the story of his extraordinary life: from his most famous landmark works 'Howl' and 'Kaddish' to the poems of White Shroud and Cosmopolitan Greetings, and on to his later writings such as the caustically funny 'Death and Fame', the provocative 'New Democracy Wish List' and the elegiac 'Things I'll Not Do (Nostalgia)'. Ginsberg, as chief figure among the Beats, fomented a social and political revolution, yet his groundbreaking verse also changed the course of American poetry with its freewheeling spontaneity, rawness, honesty and energy. Also containing illustrations by Ginsberg's artist friends, illuminating notes to the poems, original prefaces and photographs, this is the essential record of one of the most influential voices in twentieth century poetry.

First published in 1956, Allen Ginsberg's Howl is a prophetic masterpiece—an epic raging against dehumanizing society that overcame censorship trials and obscenity charges to become one of the most widely read poems of the century. This annotated version of Ginsberg's classic is the poet's own re-creation of the revolutionary work's composition process—as well as a treasure trove of anecdotes, an intimate look at the poet's writing techniques, and a veritable social history of the 1950s.

Discusses the history of sexuality in Britain in the first decades of the twentieth century and also the way it is studied.

A book of Allen Ginsberg's literary conversations 1967-1977, including his encounters with Ezra Pound and an exposition of William Carlos Williams' poetic practice.

Beatdom is a magazine for all fans of Beat Generation literature. This is the very first issue of Beatdom, containing interviews with Barry Gifford, Paul Krassner, Ken Babbs and Zane Kesey. We also have a talented group of writers and photographers, who have put together a magazine with features relating the Beat Generation to Buddhism, Bob Dylan, Hunter S Thompson and Walt Whitman; and guides to Beat books, websites and stories.

Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) kept a journal his entire life, beginning at the age of eleven. In these first journals the most important and formative years of the poet's storied life are captured, his inner thoughts detailed in what the San Francisco Chronicle calls a “vivid first-person account...Ginsberg's unmistakable voice coming into its own for the first time.” Ginsberg's journals-so candid he insisted they be published only after his death-document his complex, fascinating relationships with such figures of Beat lore as Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, and reveal a growing self-awareness about himself, his sexuality, and his identity as a poet. Illustrated with never-before-seen photos and bolstered by an appendix of his earliest poems, The Book of Martyrdom and Artifice is a major literary event.

Allen Ginsberg was one of the most politically engaged writers of his era, with a widespread social and cultural impact that was rare for a poet of his or any generation. In this volume, Eliot Katz takes a readable, scholarly look at Ginsberg's most influential poems and explores the varied and inventive ways that Ginsberg turned his political ideas and perceptions into powerful poetry. While there have been some important, previous biographies and other books looking at Ginsberg's life and work, this is the first full-length volume focusing primarily on how Ginsberg's writing works as political poetry and on Ginsberg's extraordinary influence on political culture over the ensuing decades. As a longtime poet and activist himself, as well as a friend of Ginsberg's who worked with him on a number of poetry and activist endeavors, Katz brings a unique personal, political, and literary perspective to this project. This book-including its chapter on "Howl," which offers an astute and original guide to reading Ginsberg's most celebrated poem-will be of interest to students and scholars studying Ginsberg's poetry in college classrooms, as well as to general readers and writers who enjoy Ginsberg's work.

The epigraph for Howl is from Walt Whitman: "Unscrew the locks from the doors!/Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!" Announcing his intentions with this ringing motto, Allen Ginsberg published a volume of poetry which broke so many social...