The Real Bohemia: A Sociological and Psychological Study of the "Beats"

by Francis J. Rigney, L. Douglas Smith

This is a different kind of book about the "beats." The authors— a psychiatrist and a psychologist—have done an intensive clinical study of the San Francisco North Beach community. But more revealing than the clinical interviews and the psychological tests are the firsthand observations gained by sharing in the life and activities of the community.

The beats emerge from this book as somewhat antisocial; more characteristic, however, is their impelling search for the creative expression they consider the real goal of life. Their poetry, quoted here in extensor, may be bizarre, their sex lives sometimes promiscuous, their personal histories often shocking. But the intensity of their alienation explains the patterns of their lives (one poet wrote, "For home where the hatred is/Where love and sadness start...") In rejecting society's values they are attempting to find new values and a sense of personal meaning.

Genres: Nonfiction

250 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seems counter-intuitive, especially because it seems that the authors knew some of these "Bohemians" personally. Were the respondents paid for their answers? Were they interested in finding themselves? Who knows. This was another time. The Beats were simply against the status quo, and interested in creativity (music, art, poetry, etc.) as a way to express themselves. Could you blame them?