Queer Beats: How the Beats Turned America On to Sex

by Regina Marler (Editor)

The writings that shocked America out of the 1950s Blasting through the crew-cuts and conformism of their day, the Beat writers were queer in the fullest sense of the word: their fluid sexuality challenged all sexual and romantic conventions. Most shocking of their unconventional attitudes was their embrace of same-sex eroticism. At a time when gay people were considered mentally ill or criminal, the Beats celebrated spontaneity and freedom in thought, word, and action. Their highest value was nakedness—even before Allen Ginsberg stripped bare at a poetry reading to silence a heckler. They would try anything once, then write about it. Queer Beats: How the Beats Turned America On to Sex traces, for the first time, the queer pulse that throbs throughout the Beats' writings—from William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch and Allen Ginsberg's wistful, boy-loving sex poems to Jack Kerouac's hero-worship of Neal Cassady—and Kerouac's denial of having sex with men, despite erotic encounters with Ginsberg and Gore Vidal: "Posterity will laugh at me if it thinks I was queer."

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, History, Poetry, Queer, Biography

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 2004

Reviews

[Hayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m in love with the authenticity and unbridled impulsive hedonism of this cultural movement. And I
loved reading more about the relationships between the beat authors - it was so cool to learn about how they influenced each other’s writing.
Definitely need to read some Ginsberg - he seems like quite a character.

[J-kwon Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read for anyone interested in the beat writers. I learned a lot about the beats which I never knew before, not only about queer topics such as Kerouac's suppressed bisexuality, but also about lesser known beat writers who hung in the same circles as Ginsberg and the like. The book is not only excerpts of published writings but also contains personal letters between writers.

Couldn't put it down. Loved it!

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good info, but the texts chosen are rather strange. There is so many queer texts to choose from when it comes to the Beats, so why these? Not many explanations offered.

[mic boshans]

loving it so far... a great compilation of writings... sexy and subversive and hilarious...

[Taylor Allgeier-Follett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and interesting but I don't think I like anthologies very much. It definitely made me more interested in the Beats generation.