Protest: The Beat Generation and the Angry Young Men

by Gene Feldman (Editor), Max Gartenberg (Editor)

UK edition of the US edition that was first published in 1958. This anthology contains the scene
"The Interview" from the Donleavy play Fairy Tales
of New York.

319 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

Reviews

[David Hartzheim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few jewels, but the editors could have picked better selections. I once heard someone say "Anthologies are easy to edit." I also once heard someone say "I could do that." while watching Mohawks walk effortlessly on steel girders atop skyscrapers during construction. I just smiled at both statements.

[lexine · Rating 4 out of 5]

“contemporary history writes itself in nouns: fascism, nazism, communism, spain, imperialism, hitler, stalin, nonaggression pact. pearl harbor, dachau, hiroshima, moscow, yalta, hungary, suez…names of violence and disaster, of guilt, betrayal, spiritual exhaustion.” it’s an opening that doesn’t just set the stage—it builds a gallows. from there, protest: the beat generation and angry young men dives into two distinct but parallel movements born from this wreckage. the beats ran wild through america’s sprawling highways, jazz in their ears, freedom in their sights, while the angry young men sat smoldering in britain’s dingy flats, tearing into class systems with the precision of a steak knife. rebellion here isn’t pretty; it’s blistered, bruised, and deeply human.

the brilliance of the book lies in how its form mimics its subjects. discussing the beats, the prose sprawls and flows, mirroring their unrestrained search for meaning. when it turns to britain, it tightens, sharp and relentless, like a diatribe from jimmy porter himself. but it stumbles by keeping its focus too narrow, brushing past the music and film that bled into these movements. still, the final chapters redeem it, asking whether rebellion survives in a world where resistance is hashtagged and sold. the book doesn’t offer a clean answer, but maybe that’s the point—what’s rebellion without a little mess?