East Hill Farm: Seasons with Allen Ginsberg

by Gordon Ball

A memoir of the upstate New York getaway where the icons of the Beat Generation gathered. During the late 1960s, when peace, drugs, and free love were direct challenges to conventional society, Allen Ginsberg, treasurer of the Committee on Poetry, Inc., funded what he hoped was “a haven for comrades in distress” in rural upstate New York. First described as an uninspiring, dilapidated four-bedroom house with acres of untended land, including the graves of its first residents, East Hill Farm became home to those who sought pastoral enlightenment in the presence of Ginsberg’s brilliance and generosity. A self-declared member of a “ragtag group of urban castoffs,” including Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Herbert Huncke, and the mythic Barbara Rubin, Gordon Ball tended to a non-stop flurry of guests, chores, and emotional outbursts while also making time to sit quietly with Ginsberg and discuss poetry, Kerouac, sex, and America’s war in Vietnam. Here, in honest and vivid prose, he offers a rare intimate glimpse of the poetic pillar of the Beat Generation. “Only a masterful storyteller like Gordon Ball could turn a depressing tale of poets at rock bottom into a triumph of the human spirit . . . Ball has painstakingly traced his days as the ‘farm manager’ who tried to plant the crops, do the chores, and keep on an even keel while the rest of the tribe were literally bouncing off the walls. It led him to tremendous joy, sadness, ecstasy, and a black eye. This is a personal book that examines the period that changed America―for better or worse? You decide.” ―Bill Morgan, author of I Celebrate The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg

Genres: Biography

416 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2011

Reviews

[Christopher Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

East Hill Farm: Seasons with Allen Ginsberg is a very insightful, moving work. Not only is this a glimpse into the day-to-day life of Ginsberg and other artists as they pass through the farm, it is also Mr. Ball’s coming of age story in many ways, and this is where some of the honest detail is so satisfying. Ginsberg’s succinct, tender response to Mr. Ball’s initial, youthful opinion of “On The Road” and Jack Kerouac’s writing ability is particularly moving. Also, Ginsberg’s reaction while observing Gordon attempting to make a tuna fish sandwich is humorous and heart-warming, along with the related quote - “I marvel at your occasional, incredible naivete!” The descriptions and self-effacing, detailed recollections are beautiful.
The one unmistakable impression that pervades everything throughout the book, however, is the gentleness with which Ginsberg attempted to conduct himself throughout his life. If nothing else, his attempt to live in the world as he wished to see it is very admirable. If you have any interest Ginsberg or the other Beat Poets, this recollection may provide some new understanding into their lives and work. This is a great book!

[Tantra Bensko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, as much to learn about the wonderful film maker, Gordon Ball, as to read about Ginsberg. It was a very personal, honest, straightforward, and articulate narration of his life and the lives around him at that time. His voice is strong and unique. I felt as if I lived this historically important experience vicariously.

Speculations and questions about the facts regarding Ginsberg's involvement with the CIA are a major part of why many readers want to know more about him, and those aren't addressed in the book.

[Federico · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the late 1960’s, the poet Allen Ginsberg bought a decrepit old farm in Cherry Valley, New York. He wanted to provide a place of rest in a natural setting for poets, and various strung out Beats and hippies. Author and filmmaker Gordon Ball stuck around for a few years, struggling to manage the land and trying to make the house a little more livable. This book is a memoir of those first years. Ginsberg was often away giving poetry readings and participating in various discussion groups, in order to make a little money to keep the place going. The characters who came to stay a while and then drift off have names like Barbara Rubin, Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky. We are teated to all the little dramas and gigantic personalities that animated the house. Orlovsky stands out as a larger-than-life force of nature on speed. Ginsberg is shown to be sensitive, kind, caring and a generous human being. This is an intriguing and fascinating description of a time when being off center was where one wanted to be.

[Sheela Word · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Johnson had Boswell, and Ginsberg had Ball. This is a long book that seems to be based on entries from the diary that Ball kept during the years he lived on Ginsberg's farm outside Cherry Valley, New York. The farm had crops and dairy animals, but was never self-sustaining, despite the hard labors of its denizens. Ginsberg funded it with substantial infusions of cash earned from speaking engagements.

The farm was intended to be a refuge for emotionally messed-up and/or drug-addicted creative people, and it served that purpose, except that folks often brought their problems with them and created no end of chaos for the more stable residents. Ball thoroughly describes everyone's comings, goings, and doings over a period of several years, and it's easy to develop a sense of what life on the farm was like. The various dysfunctional members of the Orlovsky family are particularly memorable.

Ginsberg himself comes across as a staunch and angry defender of principles, whose personal boundaries were not many. He was remarkably far-sighted, courageous, and kind.

I found the book's short chapters entertaining, but episodic and not well-connected to one another.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's chronicle of living on and managing the farm Allen Ginsberg started in upstate New York as a haven for poets who needed one -- whether as a respite from hard drugs, political persecution, or just the grind of the city. It is full of mundane details about life on the farm, the people who lived there, the neighboring locals, and the many visitors -- it's an interesting way to see into the lives of Ginsberg and his cohorts, and a clear-eyed perspective on such a vital time in American history.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very personal account. I'm very well read in the beat literature and I enjoyed Gordon's perspectives of life on Allen Ginsberg's farm from around 68-71. Assorted beat characters came and went. Peter Orlovsky pretty much lived there throughout. I enjoyed especially Gordon's perceptual images of Huncke, Corso and Ginsberg and just everyday life in the strange mix made up of some real characters.

[Phil Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real page turner. Despite being well read on the Beats, I had no idea about extent of Ginsbergs farm or the goings on there. Recommended to any beat enthusiasts.

[Matthew Stolte · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyable

[Joseph Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to me by a good friend who is a huge Beat scholar. At first I wasn't overly excited, I love the Beats and Beat memoirs (I've read Carolyn Cassady's, Herbert Hunches' etc) but the sheer size and limited scope of the book daunted me. After all, this huge tome cover just two years of life on East Hill Farm! With some reluctance I began to read and although I found the prose a bit of a slog at some points I ended up really enjoying the book. Although Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Gregory Corso and others are prominent figures in the narrative, this is really about the author's own personal experience living and farming on the 70 acre isolated spread in rural New York. It's as much about farming and the colourful characters in rural America as it is about the Beats. I wouldn't way Gordon Ball is a great writer but he does a credible job recalling pseudo commune life in the late 1960's, early 1970's. His perspective about the cultural divide between his generation and the rest of the States is interesting to read about (Vietnam is a country that's mentioned at least once per page throughout the book). A great read for any big fan of the Beats or farm memoirs.