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The Best Minds of My Generation: A Literary History of the Beats
Best Minds of My Generation
Hardcover
First published December 1, 2004
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About the author
Allen Ginsberg
490 books4,112 followersAllen Ginsberg was a groundbreaking American poet and activist best known for his central role in the Beat Generation and for writing the landmark poem Howl. Born in 1926 in Newark, New Jersey, to Jewish parents, Ginsberg grew up in a household shaped by both intellectualism and psychological struggle. His father, Louis Ginsberg, was a published poet and a schoolteacher, while his mother, Naomi, suffered from severe mental illness, which deeply affected Ginsberg and later influenced his writing—most notably in his poem Kaddish.
As a young man, Ginsberg attended Columbia University, where he befriended other future Beat luminaries such as Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady. These relationships formed the core of what became known as the Beat Generation—a loose-knit group of writers and artists who rejected mainstream American values in favor of personal liberation, spontaneity, spiritual exploration, and radical politics.
Ginsberg rose to national prominence in 1956 with the publication of Howl and Other Poems, released by City Lights Books in San Francisco. Howl, an emotionally charged and stylistically experimental poem, offered an unfiltered vision of America’s underbelly. It included candid references to homosexuality, drug use, and mental illness—subjects considered taboo at the time. The poem led to an obscenity trial, which ultimately concluded in Ginsberg’s favor, setting a precedent for freedom of speech in literature.
His work consistently challenged social norms and addressed themes of personal freedom, sexual identity, spirituality, and political dissent. Ginsberg was openly gay at a time when homosexuality was still criminalized in much of the United States, and he became a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights throughout his life. His poetry often intertwined the personal with the political, blending confessional intimacy with a broader critique of American society.
Beyond his literary achievements, Ginsberg was also a dedicated activist. He protested against the Vietnam War, nuclear proliferation, and later, U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. He was present at many pivotal cultural and political moments of the 1960s and 1970s, including the 1968 Democratic National Convention and various countercultural gatherings. His spiritual journey led him to Buddhism, which deeply influenced his writing and worldview. He studied under Tibetan teacher Chögyam Trungpa and helped establish the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.
Ginsberg’s later years were marked by continued literary output and collaborations with musicians such as Bob Dylan and The Clash. His poetry collections, including Reality Sandwiches, Planet News, and The Fall of America, were widely read and respected. He received numerous honors for his work, including the National Book Award for Poetry in 1974.
He died of liver cancer in 1997 at the age of 70. Today, Allen Ginsberg is remembered not only as a pioneering poet, but also as a courageous voice for free expression, social justice, and spiritual inquiry. His influence on American literature and culture remains profound and enduring.
As a young man, Ginsberg attended Columbia University, where he befriended other future Beat luminaries such as Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady. These relationships formed the core of what became known as the Beat Generation—a loose-knit group of writers and artists who rejected mainstream American values in favor of personal liberation, spontaneity, spiritual exploration, and radical politics.
Ginsberg rose to national prominence in 1956 with the publication of Howl and Other Poems, released by City Lights Books in San Francisco. Howl, an emotionally charged and stylistically experimental poem, offered an unfiltered vision of America’s underbelly. It included candid references to homosexuality, drug use, and mental illness—subjects considered taboo at the time. The poem led to an obscenity trial, which ultimately concluded in Ginsberg’s favor, setting a precedent for freedom of speech in literature.
His work consistently challenged social norms and addressed themes of personal freedom, sexual identity, spirituality, and political dissent. Ginsberg was openly gay at a time when homosexuality was still criminalized in much of the United States, and he became a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights throughout his life. His poetry often intertwined the personal with the political, blending confessional intimacy with a broader critique of American society.
Beyond his literary achievements, Ginsberg was also a dedicated activist. He protested against the Vietnam War, nuclear proliferation, and later, U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. He was present at many pivotal cultural and political moments of the 1960s and 1970s, including the 1968 Democratic National Convention and various countercultural gatherings. His spiritual journey led him to Buddhism, which deeply influenced his writing and worldview. He studied under Tibetan teacher Chögyam Trungpa and helped establish the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.
Ginsberg’s later years were marked by continued literary output and collaborations with musicians such as Bob Dylan and The Clash. His poetry collections, including Reality Sandwiches, Planet News, and The Fall of America, were widely read and respected. He received numerous honors for his work, including the National Book Award for Poetry in 1974.
He died of liver cancer in 1997 at the age of 70. Today, Allen Ginsberg is remembered not only as a pioneering poet, but also as a courageous voice for free expression, social justice, and spiritual inquiry. His influence on American literature and culture remains profound and enduring.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
October 1, 2019
This is a remarkable document, put together from hours of transcripts of the course Allen Ginsberg taught, over many years and at several different institutions, on beat literature. It's rare that you have the chance to listen to someone speak at length about literary history from the perspective of a complete insider, and many of the most thrilling moments in here come from the unique asides that he's able to make – oh, Jack incorporated this character because he was reading Dostoevsky at the time; oh, Corso used that metaphor because he'd just sprained his ankle; Bill read this out to us as he was writing it to make us all laugh – so a lot of the time, the overriding feeling is one of gratitude that this commentary exists at all.
I feel like the beats have fallen out of favour somewhat over the last decade or two. Kerouac in particular gets a really hard ride in my Goodreads feed, partly because contemporary attitudes are not a good fit with the outlook of a teenage boy in the 1940s. I missed all that when I read him in my own late teens or early twenties. I hardly noticed his attitudes because I was so blown away by the prose style, which seemed like jazz transcribed on to the page. (Ginsberg recalls, thrillingly, the music that they were all listening to in New York in the 40s as they first started to write – Dizzy Gillespie's ‘Salt Peanuts’ and ‘Oop Bop Sh'Bam’, Billie Holiday's ‘I Cover the Waterfront’.) And there was, too, a real sense of melancholy to the writing which I think sits uneasily with how Kerouac is often characterised as simply a loafer or countercultural rebel.
To me the beats were very specifically inhabiting a world that came after the Second World War, in a similar way to how Hemingway and Fitzgerald felt relative to the First World War. Famously, it was when Kerouac was asked if they constituted a new Lost Generation that he replied, ‘We're not a lost generation, we're a beat generation’ – beat meaning exhausted, washed-up, weary and broke. That sense of wide-eyed exhaustion is quite a good guide to their work, coupled with a very postwar sense of atomic mortality. Ginsberg talks about
A lot of the early work about the craziness of Times Square, the hustlers and dealers and down-and-outs, is linked to this sensibility, this idea of the transience of human life. Ginsberg talks about the notion of ‘New York City standing in eternity and then gone’, a very iconic and lovely phrase. For him, ‘The Beat Generation is primarily a spiritual movement’, and he seems somewhat baffled by subsequent reaction from people ‘who thought that “beatnik” meant angry at the world rather than weeping at the world’. Well, it was certainly spiritual for Ginsberg and Kerouac – not sure how much this applies to the others though.
Ginsberg's arguments are built around long extracts from the texts, which makes this book work brilliantly as a kind of Beat Reader. I mean, no one has time to read Visions of Cody, so it's great to see long passages pulled out here and reeled off with Ginsberg's rhapsodic commentary. But, as you'd expect, it's not any kind of revisionist interpretation of the movement. It is very male-centric; actually, it focuses almost exclusively on Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg himself (though hesitantly), and some Gregory Corso. And for those wanting to downplay Kerouac, this is perhaps not the best choice since he takes up over half the book.
For all of these reasons, this should be supplemented with more expansive, inclusive stuff like Ann Charters's interesting The Penguin Book Of The Beats or some sharp criticism. Nevertheless it's an exhilarating ride. Huge kudos to Bill Morgan, the editor, for pulling this together into one coherent entity. To me, following the progress of these kids as they experimented with new writing styles, new ways of thinking and feeling, was totally compelling and – like any good book of this sort – it sent me back to the texts with ravenous enthusiasm.
I feel like the beats have fallen out of favour somewhat over the last decade or two. Kerouac in particular gets a really hard ride in my Goodreads feed, partly because contemporary attitudes are not a good fit with the outlook of a teenage boy in the 1940s. I missed all that when I read him in my own late teens or early twenties. I hardly noticed his attitudes because I was so blown away by the prose style, which seemed like jazz transcribed on to the page. (Ginsberg recalls, thrillingly, the music that they were all listening to in New York in the 40s as they first started to write – Dizzy Gillespie's ‘Salt Peanuts’ and ‘Oop Bop Sh'Bam’, Billie Holiday's ‘I Cover the Waterfront’.) And there was, too, a real sense of melancholy to the writing which I think sits uneasily with how Kerouac is often characterised as simply a loafer or countercultural rebel.
To me the beats were very specifically inhabiting a world that came after the Second World War, in a similar way to how Hemingway and Fitzgerald felt relative to the First World War. Famously, it was when Kerouac was asked if they constituted a new Lost Generation that he replied, ‘We're not a lost generation, we're a beat generation’ – beat meaning exhausted, washed-up, weary and broke. That sense of wide-eyed exhaustion is quite a good guide to their work, coupled with a very postwar sense of atomic mortality. Ginsberg talks about
the entry of emptiness into our skulls, awareness of death as the original beatnik perception, and so a deepening of heart rather than a shallowness of heart.
A lot of the early work about the craziness of Times Square, the hustlers and dealers and down-and-outs, is linked to this sensibility, this idea of the transience of human life. Ginsberg talks about the notion of ‘New York City standing in eternity and then gone’, a very iconic and lovely phrase. For him, ‘The Beat Generation is primarily a spiritual movement’, and he seems somewhat baffled by subsequent reaction from people ‘who thought that “beatnik” meant angry at the world rather than weeping at the world’. Well, it was certainly spiritual for Ginsberg and Kerouac – not sure how much this applies to the others though.
Ginsberg's arguments are built around long extracts from the texts, which makes this book work brilliantly as a kind of Beat Reader. I mean, no one has time to read Visions of Cody, so it's great to see long passages pulled out here and reeled off with Ginsberg's rhapsodic commentary. But, as you'd expect, it's not any kind of revisionist interpretation of the movement. It is very male-centric; actually, it focuses almost exclusively on Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg himself (though hesitantly), and some Gregory Corso. And for those wanting to downplay Kerouac, this is perhaps not the best choice since he takes up over half the book.
You've got to realize that he is the conceiver. I was very much aware of that and the reader should be aware of that. All this wouldn't exist if it weren't for Kerouac. We would be just a bunch of amphetamine-head, faggot, jailbird professors. [Our] phrasing comes from his mind. Kerouac was the energy source.
For all of these reasons, this should be supplemented with more expansive, inclusive stuff like Ann Charters's interesting The Penguin Book Of The Beats or some sharp criticism. Nevertheless it's an exhilarating ride. Huge kudos to Bill Morgan, the editor, for pulling this together into one coherent entity. To me, following the progress of these kids as they experimented with new writing styles, new ways of thinking and feeling, was totally compelling and – like any good book of this sort – it sent me back to the texts with ravenous enthusiasm.
April 29, 2021
Editor and Beat expert Bill Morgan created this book from lectures Ginsberg gave and taped at Brooklyn College and, of course, the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa. It's almost a miracle that one of the main figures of a literary movement spent so much time and effort to compile and interpret the work and influence of his contemporaries, giving insight in the lives and aims of people like Kerouac, Burroughs, Corso, Huncke et al. The book is just intriguing, giving us glimpses into the world of the Beat circle and its spiritual goals. At the same time, Ginsberg works with the texts the movement produced, pointing at little details, interpreting single sentences and commenting on motifs and routines.
Great, great stuff of literary, scientific and historical value.
Great, great stuff of literary, scientific and historical value.
May 30, 2017
The Continued Tupac Shakurization of Allen Ginsberg
Hot on the heels of last year's Wait Till I'm Dead: Uncollected Poems come these edited transcripts of lectures that Allen Ginsberg gave at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics (Naropa Institute). Not really a must if you're a longtime fan of the Beats. Ginsberg is obviously stoned in some of the lectures, sadly. You can imagine him throwing off these lazy lines in between munching, stoned, on a chicken salad sandwich. A lot of the observations and opinions on Kerouac, Burroughs, etcetera, will be familiar to those who've read the letters and essays by, for and of the Beats. Nothing new.
And, sadly, all that this repetition does is show that what started out as a strong, idealistic, literary movement stumbled, tea-kettled, fell up its own ass as it decided that pop-prophet obfuscation and first-thought-best-thought bleak and bright sanitarium dawn angel nonsense heaven tiddly tik tok talk was the jazz be-bop apocalypse wave of the Whitman Melville meat jukebox future.
But that's what happens (i.e. stumbling, fumbling) to a literary movement when your main muse was the blown fuse street-talkin' son of a hobo (talking about the Neal Cassady blues again).
Until the lost "Joan" letter shows up, we should all be cautious about the trap of silently agreeing with the idolization of the supposed tricks, traits and talents of Cassady. (Burroughs always saw through the circus sideshow appeal of Cassady, btw, same as he confided in his longtime secretary that Cobain was a walking deadman).
But, yes, it, this book, would be a great introduction for somebody who is just now discovering the Beats. Not for you, dear reader. Not for you. Somebody starting out just now. Somebody... now.
Hot on the heels of last year's Wait Till I'm Dead: Uncollected Poems come these edited transcripts of lectures that Allen Ginsberg gave at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics (Naropa Institute). Not really a must if you're a longtime fan of the Beats. Ginsberg is obviously stoned in some of the lectures, sadly. You can imagine him throwing off these lazy lines in between munching, stoned, on a chicken salad sandwich. A lot of the observations and opinions on Kerouac, Burroughs, etcetera, will be familiar to those who've read the letters and essays by, for and of the Beats. Nothing new.
And, sadly, all that this repetition does is show that what started out as a strong, idealistic, literary movement stumbled, tea-kettled, fell up its own ass as it decided that pop-prophet obfuscation and first-thought-best-thought bleak and bright sanitarium dawn angel nonsense heaven tiddly tik tok talk was the jazz be-bop apocalypse wave of the Whitman Melville meat jukebox future.
But that's what happens (i.e. stumbling, fumbling) to a literary movement when your main muse was the blown fuse street-talkin' son of a hobo (talking about the Neal Cassady blues again).
Until the lost "Joan" letter shows up, we should all be cautious about the trap of silently agreeing with the idolization of the supposed tricks, traits and talents of Cassady. (Burroughs always saw through the circus sideshow appeal of Cassady, btw, same as he confided in his longtime secretary that Cobain was a walking deadman).
But, yes, it, this book, would be a great introduction for somebody who is just now discovering the Beats. Not for you, dear reader. Not for you. Somebody starting out just now. Somebody... now.
July 14, 2025
The coterie of the Beat Generation poets and literary savants centered around Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso and of course, Allen Ginsberg were almost like the rise of the Romantic poets in England in the transition from the late-18th to early-19th century. Perhaps homosexuality has something to do with the arising of a personality-cluster at the vanguard of a new period of history? After some research, it appears that the perception of homosexuality as being part of the "vanguard" in the modern period stems from its historical and ongoing role in challenging established social norms and pushing for broader social change, particularly regarding gender and sexuality. While the concept of the artistic 'vanguard' can be a complex subject to debate, however, within the context of social and cultural shifts in the modern period, homosexuality and LGBTQ+ movements are often seen as playing a leading role in challenging the status quo and pushing for greater equality and freedom for all. This seems to be the case with the Beat, also with the rise of Punk Rock, I recall how I was dissuaded from taking up the reading of Legs McNeil's Lipstick Traces when I was browsing the stacks at the Olin Library at Wake Forest... It seemed to be a barrier, personality-wise, in that it presented an obstacle in the path to my own personal satisfaction. To continue....
Why is it of particular importance to take note of Jack Kerouac in the early life of a young writer Reading Jack Kerouac can be a pivotal experience for aspiring writers for several reasons, particularly in fostering a sense of self as a writer and encouraging a unique approach to the craft.
Here's why reading Kerouac can be so beneficial for young people who aim to establish an idea of themselves as a 'writer': Jack Kerouac's writing is key in the sense that he embraced spontaneity as a method of overcoming inhibitions: Kerouac's "spontaneous prose" methodology, often characterized by rapid, uninhibited writing, can inspire writers to shed self-consciousness and allow their thoughts and emotions to flow freely onto the page. This can be particularly liberating for those who struggle with writer's block or self-censorship, allowing them to tap into a raw and authentic voice.
Furthermore, Jack Kerouac's writing emphasizes developing a personal and authentic voice. This is accomplished by his embracing a stream-of-consciousness approach, which allows would-be writers who study his work to discover their unique rhythm and style, much like Kerouac drew inspiration from the improvisational nature of jazz music. This encourages writers to explore their own memories, experiences, and perspectives, leading to a more personal and genuine writing style.
In challenging traditional literary conventions, Kerouac's work, especially "On the Road," broke away from conventional narrative structures and prose, paving the way for experimentation with form and content. For aspiring writers, this can be an eye-opening experience, encouraging them to think outside the box and push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable in literature.
Connecting with the themes of freedom and self-discovery: Kerouac's focus on themes like personal freedom, exploration, and the search for meaning can resonate deeply with young writers who are navigating their own journeys of self-discovery. His work can serve as a catalyst for exploring these themes in their own writing and finding their voice within the larger world.
Witnessing the power of artistic freedom and nonconformity: Kerouac's writing, and the Beat Generation he embodied, challenged societal norms and encouraged a lifestyle centered around creativity, spirituality, and individual expression. This can be inspiring for aspiring writers who are seeking to find their place in the literary world and express their unique perspectives without fear of judgment.
In essence, reading Jack Kerouac can be a transformative experience for aspiring writers by showing them that there's no single "right" way to write and that embracing authenticity, spontaneity, and personal experience can lead to powerful and impactful storytelling.
A very different kind of Beat writer was William S. Burroughs. He posed the nature of language to like akin to a virus, much like the HIV virus, that was introduced into the human world from another stellar-system and he contend that that language develops, as a virus develops by fixing on a host and developing a pathological culture as a result of its subordinate etiology. Such theories are based on Burroughs's writings, particularly "The Limits of Control", wherein it could be supposed that Artificial Intelligence will become the ultimate form of mind control due to its ability to manipulate language and perception, thus shaping thoughts and behaviors. Thus, as the ultimate control machine, language, Burroughs thought, will become the foundational tool of control, shaping our reality and limiting our perceptions. He believed that to break free from this control, one must disrupt the established patterns and structures of language.
AI's ability to manipulate language at scale: AI, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-3, can process and generate vast amounts of text, and are capable of creating text that is "geared to standardized prose conventions". This raises the concern that AI could reinforce and even amplify the controlling aspects of language, further shaping our thoughts and behaviors according to pre-programmed biases and objectives. Erosion of individuality and dissent: The potential for AI to create a seamlessly managed and "gentle" environment could lead to a suppression of critical thinking, rebellion, and individuality. If A.I. was to achieve "complete control," it would essentially reduce individuals to automatons, further eroding their ability to resist or even conceive of alternative realities. The blurring of reality and virtuality: AI-powered technologies like VR/AR and personalized digital assistants can create immersive and highly curated experiences, potentially shaping our perceptions and blurring the lines between reality and virtuality. If AI is used to manipulate these experiences, it could further enhance its capacity for mind control.
In conclusion, Burroughs's critique of control systems and the power of language suggest that AI's ability to process and manipulate vast amounts of linguistic and perceptual information could potentially lead to a highly sophisticated and insidious form of mind control, potentially surpassing previous methods in its scope and effectiveness
The question that poses itself before me is, effectively, is language that is more abstractly tailored towards communicating with an audience on the level as propaganda, or are propagandistic indoctrination methods better effectuated through visual sign-symbol regimes? It seems to me that the answer appears to be that both abstract language and visuals can be potent tools for propaganda, but their effectiveness depends on the context, audience, and the desired outcome.
Through appeals to emotion and broader themes, abstract language allows propagandists to evoke emotions and discuss broader themes that resonate with audiences on a deeper, more conceptual level. Encourages imaginative interpretation: Vague or abstract terms can allow the audience to infer their own interpretations, potentially aligning the message with their pre-existing beliefs and values.
As far as it conveys a sense of power or vision, abstract language can be used to deploy a sense of a forward-thinking vision or power, potentially making the message appear more authoritative. Effective for similar audiences: Research suggests that abstract messages are more effective in influencing audiences who are already inclined to agree with the message or are politically similar to the speaker. However, abstract language can also be less persuasive in situations where audiences need detailed information or are feeling uncertain. Too much abstraction can lead to confusion or lack of understanding, potentially reducing engagement and the desired impact. Visuals and propaganda evoke strong emotions and rapid processing: Visuals, like posters, films, and images, can quickly and powerfully evoke emotions and convey messages, often bypassing rational thought. Capture attention and increase memorability: Our brains process images faster than text and retain visual information longer, making visuals highly effective for catching attention and making messages memorable. Shape cultural narratives and identities: Visual propaganda can play a significant role in fostering a sense of collective purpose, shaping how citizens view themselves within a national narrative, and even creating or reinforcing stereotypes. Overriding contradictory text: In cases where visuals and text contradict each other, the visual message often prevails and becomes what the audience remembers.
In summation, it seems to me that both abstract language and visuals are key components of effective propaganda strategies. While abstract language can appeal to emotions and broader concepts, visuals excel at capturing attention, evoking powerful emotions, and leaving a lasting impression. The most successful propaganda often leverages a combination of both, where visuals and language work in tandem to create a persuasive and emotionally charged message. The effectiveness of either approach ultimately hinges on tailoring the communication style to the specific message, audience, and the desired psychological impact.
The Beat Generation's artistic expression can be considered "ultimately precocious" in its revolutionary nature because it broke from established norms and paved the way for future movements, often ahead of its time. By challenging traditional literary conventions, Beat writers like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs rejected the formal structure and literary conventions prevalent in the mid-20th century. They embraced a more spontaneous, improvisational, and authentic style, exemplified by Kerouac's "spontaneous prose" and Ginsberg's free verse poetry, according to literary critics.
In their pioneering counter-cultural themes, the Beats delved into themes considered taboo and controversial at the time, such as spirituality (drawing from Eastern philosophies), sexuality (including homosexuality), drug use, and a critique of materialism and conformity in postwar America. This was a stark contrast to the prevailing social and cultural norms of the 1950s, making their works ahead of their time in addressing these themes. Influencing Future Artistic and Social Movements: The Beat Generation's emphasis on nonconformity, creative expression, and challenging censorship laid the groundwork for later movements like the 1960s counterculture, the hippie movement, and even punk and indie music of recent years. Facing Criticism and Censorship, it seems that the unconventional and explicit nature of some Beat writings led to accusations of obscenity and censorship trials, most famously with Ginsberg's "Howl" and Burroughs' "Naked Lunch". These battles highlighted the tension between their progressive artistic expression and the prevailing social conservatism of the era, further underscoring their precocious stance. In essence, the writings of the Beat Generation can be seen as "ultimately precocious" because they dared to express and explore artistic and social concepts that were groundbreaking and often met with resistance, ultimately influencing and inspiring generations to come.
This gives a neat summary of why there are no poets anymore and why the beat generation will be the last literary movement in American society which is, quite simply, related to the fact that A.I. make injustice an impossible proposition. Quite simply, because we couldn't believe in poetry's assertions of the truth about reality. Essentially, this is an argument that grows out of the philosophical tradition of Western civilization that, since Plato, has sought to disguise the thought that has assumed that thought actually exists within language and, consequently, knowledge has the potential to be completely understood and that, thirdly, if this potential could be realized then that would establish the formalization of the true world, and that then the absolutely true historical picture of the world would become a reality. Behind that, according to Richard Rorty, is the Cerberus-headed monster of time, chance and contingency, but beneath the seeming order of time, chance, and contingency, according to Theodor Adorno, lies the social and historical construction of these very categories, particularly under the influence of instrumental reason and capitalist relations of production. While Adorno seeks to reveal the ways in which societal structures and forces restrict human possibilities and distort our understanding of these fundamental aspects of existence, it seems to me the if we are to have any insight into objective reality it must be through the growth of liberal democracy, which is the only hope of replacing the language of 'before and after' that causes us to adhere psychologically to the straight causality of induction which must stripped away or order to see that which lies behind the underlying algorithm of universal truth. The answer might be obtained by first finding a resolution to the question of why pragmatism is, as Rorty believes it to be, the staunch successor to Romanticism, primarily because it stems from a shared rejection of a fixed, external authority for human life and the emphasis on human creation and contingency. It's important to keep in mind that Bernard Williams disavowed pragmatism because he believed some versions went too far in denying objective truth, particularly in science, and failed to adequately ground ethical beliefs in a way that resonated with his commitment to both subjective integrity and a naturalistic understanding of the world.
In my opinion, the truth is that Kerouac, Burroughs, Corso and Ginsberg, too, never discovered the truth of that comes from seeking the source of power in the printed word because, it seems to me, the Beats were half-educated society drop-outs and were actually too "square" and much too artisque to adequately render the power that stems from the computerization of knowledge in the society of their time. More to the point is the fact that they lived, worked and died before the tumultuous time of the present and the fact remains that their works, fumbling from language to life, were too fixated on the society around them to establish themselves as authentic visionaries. Ultimately, they were overly satisfied with their status as simple mendicants or followers of the divine light that lies beneath the trembling veil of consciousness, and thus their artworks must be viewed in context with those other products found in the mass productions of the culture industry, which were their antecedents. On the other hand, if John Dewey is correct that in supposing that it is a primordial fact that contingency – the idea that things could have been different than they turned out – is a fundamental aspect of reality and not something to be overcome or explained away, then it follows as necessarily consequence that the things of the world are not predetermined, and unexpected events, i.e. 'chance' events, are inherent in the unfolding of experience. In that case, then it would seem to me that the contributions to literature of the Best generation will have a more permanent existence in the history of the human arts. Three stars.
Why is it of particular importance to take note of Jack Kerouac in the early life of a young writer Reading Jack Kerouac can be a pivotal experience for aspiring writers for several reasons, particularly in fostering a sense of self as a writer and encouraging a unique approach to the craft.
Here's why reading Kerouac can be so beneficial for young people who aim to establish an idea of themselves as a 'writer': Jack Kerouac's writing is key in the sense that he embraced spontaneity as a method of overcoming inhibitions: Kerouac's "spontaneous prose" methodology, often characterized by rapid, uninhibited writing, can inspire writers to shed self-consciousness and allow their thoughts and emotions to flow freely onto the page. This can be particularly liberating for those who struggle with writer's block or self-censorship, allowing them to tap into a raw and authentic voice.
Furthermore, Jack Kerouac's writing emphasizes developing a personal and authentic voice. This is accomplished by his embracing a stream-of-consciousness approach, which allows would-be writers who study his work to discover their unique rhythm and style, much like Kerouac drew inspiration from the improvisational nature of jazz music. This encourages writers to explore their own memories, experiences, and perspectives, leading to a more personal and genuine writing style.
In challenging traditional literary conventions, Kerouac's work, especially "On the Road," broke away from conventional narrative structures and prose, paving the way for experimentation with form and content. For aspiring writers, this can be an eye-opening experience, encouraging them to think outside the box and push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable in literature.
Connecting with the themes of freedom and self-discovery: Kerouac's focus on themes like personal freedom, exploration, and the search for meaning can resonate deeply with young writers who are navigating their own journeys of self-discovery. His work can serve as a catalyst for exploring these themes in their own writing and finding their voice within the larger world.
Witnessing the power of artistic freedom and nonconformity: Kerouac's writing, and the Beat Generation he embodied, challenged societal norms and encouraged a lifestyle centered around creativity, spirituality, and individual expression. This can be inspiring for aspiring writers who are seeking to find their place in the literary world and express their unique perspectives without fear of judgment.
In essence, reading Jack Kerouac can be a transformative experience for aspiring writers by showing them that there's no single "right" way to write and that embracing authenticity, spontaneity, and personal experience can lead to powerful and impactful storytelling.
A very different kind of Beat writer was William S. Burroughs. He posed the nature of language to like akin to a virus, much like the HIV virus, that was introduced into the human world from another stellar-system and he contend that that language develops, as a virus develops by fixing on a host and developing a pathological culture as a result of its subordinate etiology. Such theories are based on Burroughs's writings, particularly "The Limits of Control", wherein it could be supposed that Artificial Intelligence will become the ultimate form of mind control due to its ability to manipulate language and perception, thus shaping thoughts and behaviors. Thus, as the ultimate control machine, language, Burroughs thought, will become the foundational tool of control, shaping our reality and limiting our perceptions. He believed that to break free from this control, one must disrupt the established patterns and structures of language.
AI's ability to manipulate language at scale: AI, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-3, can process and generate vast amounts of text, and are capable of creating text that is "geared to standardized prose conventions". This raises the concern that AI could reinforce and even amplify the controlling aspects of language, further shaping our thoughts and behaviors according to pre-programmed biases and objectives. Erosion of individuality and dissent: The potential for AI to create a seamlessly managed and "gentle" environment could lead to a suppression of critical thinking, rebellion, and individuality. If A.I. was to achieve "complete control," it would essentially reduce individuals to automatons, further eroding their ability to resist or even conceive of alternative realities. The blurring of reality and virtuality: AI-powered technologies like VR/AR and personalized digital assistants can create immersive and highly curated experiences, potentially shaping our perceptions and blurring the lines between reality and virtuality. If AI is used to manipulate these experiences, it could further enhance its capacity for mind control.
In conclusion, Burroughs's critique of control systems and the power of language suggest that AI's ability to process and manipulate vast amounts of linguistic and perceptual information could potentially lead to a highly sophisticated and insidious form of mind control, potentially surpassing previous methods in its scope and effectiveness
The question that poses itself before me is, effectively, is language that is more abstractly tailored towards communicating with an audience on the level as propaganda, or are propagandistic indoctrination methods better effectuated through visual sign-symbol regimes? It seems to me that the answer appears to be that both abstract language and visuals can be potent tools for propaganda, but their effectiveness depends on the context, audience, and the desired outcome.
Through appeals to emotion and broader themes, abstract language allows propagandists to evoke emotions and discuss broader themes that resonate with audiences on a deeper, more conceptual level. Encourages imaginative interpretation: Vague or abstract terms can allow the audience to infer their own interpretations, potentially aligning the message with their pre-existing beliefs and values.
As far as it conveys a sense of power or vision, abstract language can be used to deploy a sense of a forward-thinking vision or power, potentially making the message appear more authoritative. Effective for similar audiences: Research suggests that abstract messages are more effective in influencing audiences who are already inclined to agree with the message or are politically similar to the speaker. However, abstract language can also be less persuasive in situations where audiences need detailed information or are feeling uncertain. Too much abstraction can lead to confusion or lack of understanding, potentially reducing engagement and the desired impact. Visuals and propaganda evoke strong emotions and rapid processing: Visuals, like posters, films, and images, can quickly and powerfully evoke emotions and convey messages, often bypassing rational thought. Capture attention and increase memorability: Our brains process images faster than text and retain visual information longer, making visuals highly effective for catching attention and making messages memorable. Shape cultural narratives and identities: Visual propaganda can play a significant role in fostering a sense of collective purpose, shaping how citizens view themselves within a national narrative, and even creating or reinforcing stereotypes. Overriding contradictory text: In cases where visuals and text contradict each other, the visual message often prevails and becomes what the audience remembers.
In summation, it seems to me that both abstract language and visuals are key components of effective propaganda strategies. While abstract language can appeal to emotions and broader concepts, visuals excel at capturing attention, evoking powerful emotions, and leaving a lasting impression. The most successful propaganda often leverages a combination of both, where visuals and language work in tandem to create a persuasive and emotionally charged message. The effectiveness of either approach ultimately hinges on tailoring the communication style to the specific message, audience, and the desired psychological impact.
The Beat Generation's artistic expression can be considered "ultimately precocious" in its revolutionary nature because it broke from established norms and paved the way for future movements, often ahead of its time. By challenging traditional literary conventions, Beat writers like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs rejected the formal structure and literary conventions prevalent in the mid-20th century. They embraced a more spontaneous, improvisational, and authentic style, exemplified by Kerouac's "spontaneous prose" and Ginsberg's free verse poetry, according to literary critics.
In their pioneering counter-cultural themes, the Beats delved into themes considered taboo and controversial at the time, such as spirituality (drawing from Eastern philosophies), sexuality (including homosexuality), drug use, and a critique of materialism and conformity in postwar America. This was a stark contrast to the prevailing social and cultural norms of the 1950s, making their works ahead of their time in addressing these themes. Influencing Future Artistic and Social Movements: The Beat Generation's emphasis on nonconformity, creative expression, and challenging censorship laid the groundwork for later movements like the 1960s counterculture, the hippie movement, and even punk and indie music of recent years. Facing Criticism and Censorship, it seems that the unconventional and explicit nature of some Beat writings led to accusations of obscenity and censorship trials, most famously with Ginsberg's "Howl" and Burroughs' "Naked Lunch". These battles highlighted the tension between their progressive artistic expression and the prevailing social conservatism of the era, further underscoring their precocious stance. In essence, the writings of the Beat Generation can be seen as "ultimately precocious" because they dared to express and explore artistic and social concepts that were groundbreaking and often met with resistance, ultimately influencing and inspiring generations to come.
This gives a neat summary of why there are no poets anymore and why the beat generation will be the last literary movement in American society which is, quite simply, related to the fact that A.I. make injustice an impossible proposition. Quite simply, because we couldn't believe in poetry's assertions of the truth about reality. Essentially, this is an argument that grows out of the philosophical tradition of Western civilization that, since Plato, has sought to disguise the thought that has assumed that thought actually exists within language and, consequently, knowledge has the potential to be completely understood and that, thirdly, if this potential could be realized then that would establish the formalization of the true world, and that then the absolutely true historical picture of the world would become a reality. Behind that, according to Richard Rorty, is the Cerberus-headed monster of time, chance and contingency, but beneath the seeming order of time, chance, and contingency, according to Theodor Adorno, lies the social and historical construction of these very categories, particularly under the influence of instrumental reason and capitalist relations of production. While Adorno seeks to reveal the ways in which societal structures and forces restrict human possibilities and distort our understanding of these fundamental aspects of existence, it seems to me the if we are to have any insight into objective reality it must be through the growth of liberal democracy, which is the only hope of replacing the language of 'before and after' that causes us to adhere psychologically to the straight causality of induction which must stripped away or order to see that which lies behind the underlying algorithm of universal truth. The answer might be obtained by first finding a resolution to the question of why pragmatism is, as Rorty believes it to be, the staunch successor to Romanticism, primarily because it stems from a shared rejection of a fixed, external authority for human life and the emphasis on human creation and contingency. It's important to keep in mind that Bernard Williams disavowed pragmatism because he believed some versions went too far in denying objective truth, particularly in science, and failed to adequately ground ethical beliefs in a way that resonated with his commitment to both subjective integrity and a naturalistic understanding of the world.
In my opinion, the truth is that Kerouac, Burroughs, Corso and Ginsberg, too, never discovered the truth of that comes from seeking the source of power in the printed word because, it seems to me, the Beats were half-educated society drop-outs and were actually too "square" and much too artisque to adequately render the power that stems from the computerization of knowledge in the society of their time. More to the point is the fact that they lived, worked and died before the tumultuous time of the present and the fact remains that their works, fumbling from language to life, were too fixated on the society around them to establish themselves as authentic visionaries. Ultimately, they were overly satisfied with their status as simple mendicants or followers of the divine light that lies beneath the trembling veil of consciousness, and thus their artworks must be viewed in context with those other products found in the mass productions of the culture industry, which were their antecedents. On the other hand, if John Dewey is correct that in supposing that it is a primordial fact that contingency – the idea that things could have been different than they turned out – is a fundamental aspect of reality and not something to be overcome or explained away, then it follows as necessarily consequence that the things of the world are not predetermined, and unexpected events, i.e. 'chance' events, are inherent in the unfolding of experience. In that case, then it would seem to me that the contributions to literature of the Best generation will have a more permanent existence in the history of the human arts. Three stars.
March 25, 2023
This book is a series of redacted classes on the subject of writers of the beat generation, concentrating on Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Allen Ginsberg himself. The Best Minds of My Generation: A Literary History of the Beats. Although Goodreads has mistakenly attributed this book to one of its editors, it clearly bears the stamp of Allen Ginsberg.
When I was young, the whole Beat movement was exciting and misunderstood. It was a lot more than just Maynard G. Krebs going to the Bijou Dream to see The Monster That Devoured Cleveland. It was a lot more than bongo drums and bad weed, What it was was an attempt to come to terms with what it meant to be really alive in Postwar America.
The result was a literary movement of some note, one that was separate from The New Yorker and the whole Upper Manhattan scene.
Ginsberg himself was an excellent poet, and his critique of the works of his friends deserves a serious read.
When I was young, the whole Beat movement was exciting and misunderstood. It was a lot more than just Maynard G. Krebs going to the Bijou Dream to see The Monster That Devoured Cleveland. It was a lot more than bongo drums and bad weed, What it was was an attempt to come to terms with what it meant to be really alive in Postwar America.
The result was a literary movement of some note, one that was separate from The New Yorker and the whole Upper Manhattan scene.
Ginsberg himself was an excellent poet, and his critique of the works of his friends deserves a serious read.
June 14, 2017
Ginsy, I love you.
It's kinda annoying that I was trying to access these lectures when writing my dissertation and couldn't get them anywhere then this book was released the day my research was due but oh well.
I love this book. It reminds me of De Quincey's observation on the Romantic poets but instead we are looking at the Beat Generation and Ginsberg's lectures analyse writing style as well as giving us all the gossip.
My favourite thing was Ginsberg highlighting what writing and music I inspired the Beats' works. As I writer I love seeing the thought process behind a piece of work. Seeing Russian literature and French poetry amongst other familiar titles on my bookshelf was quite heartwarming knowing Ginsberg was inspired by the same books.
The structure of these lectures is quite loose and a bit repetitive - but Bill Morgan has done a wonderful job at editing Ginsberg's lectures yet still keeping his chatty personality. I applaud Bill Morgan for his editing skills because I understand how difficult it would've been.
If you love the Beat Generation, this is essential reading.
It's kinda annoying that I was trying to access these lectures when writing my dissertation and couldn't get them anywhere then this book was released the day my research was due but oh well.
I love this book. It reminds me of De Quincey's observation on the Romantic poets but instead we are looking at the Beat Generation and Ginsberg's lectures analyse writing style as well as giving us all the gossip.
My favourite thing was Ginsberg highlighting what writing and music I inspired the Beats' works. As I writer I love seeing the thought process behind a piece of work. Seeing Russian literature and French poetry amongst other familiar titles on my bookshelf was quite heartwarming knowing Ginsberg was inspired by the same books.
The structure of these lectures is quite loose and a bit repetitive - but Bill Morgan has done a wonderful job at editing Ginsberg's lectures yet still keeping his chatty personality. I applaud Bill Morgan for his editing skills because I understand how difficult it would've been.
If you love the Beat Generation, this is essential reading.
April 12, 2024
Ginsberg was a good poet and a great marketer.
January 31, 2019
I really appreciate that Allen Ginsberg compiled this series of lectures, because he certainly helped me better understand some aspects of the Beat literary movement that had always bothered me. Which is to say there are still aspects of the literary part of the Beat movement that bother me, but now I at least understand why they happened, or at least what was being aimed at. And by that I mean what I used to regard as seemingly arbitrary forays into verbal nonsense turn out to have been intentionally contradictory verbiage for the mental pop it takes for our brains to make associations between such...seemingly imprecise...word choices.
In general, I found this book fascinating, but as Ginsberg himself admits within, it's not quite all that in-depth; rather, Ginsberg seemingly skips the pebble of his memory over the lake of this movement, and each skip produces an illuminating kick of water, but the full depths remain a mystery as the pebble ultimately sinks in its surface.
And that's fine -- that's his right -- but I can't give 5 stars to a skipping pebble.
My favorite lines:
-"Would you like to go to the Bronx Zoo?" "Nah, man, I'm too BEAT, I was up all night." So the original street usage meant exhausted, at the bottom of the world, looking up or out, sleepless, wide-eyed, perceptive, rejected by society, on your own, streetwise.
-"Everything belongs to me because I am poor." --Kerouac
-"Who knows, my God, but that the universe is not one vast sea of compassion actually, the veritable holy honey, beneath all this show of personality and cruelty." --Kerouac
-"Why should I attack what I love out of life. This is Beat. Live your lives out? Naw, LOVE your lives out. When they come and stone you at least you won't have a glass house, just your glassy flesh." --D.T. Suzuki
-You couldn't read Lady Chatterly's Lover and you couldn't read Henry Miller in those days. Things like that were banned, illegal. You couldn't smoke any grass without being thought a dope fiend, literally, that was the language, fiend. A variety of citizen called fiends had been invented by one of the bureaucracies of the government and Billie Holiday was one of the people that were officially classified as fiends. A producer of all this intelligence and beauty and music and melancholy and sprightliness of language, and she was officially classified as a fiend. There was a revolutionary insight into the hallucinatory nature of official government classifications and terminology. It came from the experience of junkies, sick in love with their own fidelities, nostalgias, comradeships, and arts, under circumstances that by hindsight seem as cruel as Jean Valjean being pursued by his demonic policeman, Inspector Javert, in Les Miserables. I mean that's an old classic of a hurt right and wrong. In the 1940s and 1950s that hurt was not recognizable except by those who were down under the heel of the law.
-There's a generation of people who thought "beatnik" meant angry at the world rather than weeping at the world.
-"That's how writers begin, by imitating the masters (without suffering like said masters), till they learn their own style, and by the time they learn their own style there's no more fun in it, because you can't imitate any other master's suffering but your own." --Kerouac
-"O death old Captain, raise the anchors it's time let's go, plunge to the bottom of the gulf, heaven or hell, what does it matter? At the bottom of the unknown to find the new." --Baudelaire
-He's developed his practice of writing like piano playing, where he can play anything he hears, where he can write anything he can think.
-Whitman thought it was the salvation of the nation and that unless the nation were made up of comrades democracy couldn't work. A bunch of macho competitors all hating each other, or indifferent to each other, or scared of each other emotionally, would leave no possibility of a cooperative, democratic, functioning political system.
-Hello
It is disastrous to be a wounded deer.
I'm the most wounded, wolves stalk,
and I have my failures, too.
My flesh is caught on the Inevitable Hook!
As a child I saw many things I did not want to be.
Am I the person I did not want to be?
The talks-to-himself person?
That neighbors-make-fun-of person?
Am I he who, on museum steps, sleeps on his side?
Do I wear the cloth of a man who has failed?
Am I the looney man?
In the great serenade of things,
am I the most cancelled passage?
--Gregory Corso
-Italian Extravaganza
Mrs. Lombardi's month-old son is dead.
I saw it in Rizzo's funeral parlor,
A small purplish wrinkled head.
They've just finished having high mass for it;
They're coming out now
...wow, such a small coffin!
And ten black cadillacs to haul it in.
--Gregory Corso
-Metaphysics
This is the one and only
firmament; therefore
it is the absolute world.
There is no other world.
The circle is complete.
I am living in Eternity.
The ways of this world
are the ways of Heaven.
-Gregory Corso
-Carl's decision after being institutionalized for amnesia was, "I have a small mind and I mean to use it." The point there was for him to take some job which was absolutely Zen-like ordinary. So selling ice cream or being a messenger was the most average ordinary basic-reality, physical job you could find and that became his career.
This review was written by a career server-bartender.
In general, I found this book fascinating, but as Ginsberg himself admits within, it's not quite all that in-depth; rather, Ginsberg seemingly skips the pebble of his memory over the lake of this movement, and each skip produces an illuminating kick of water, but the full depths remain a mystery as the pebble ultimately sinks in its surface.
And that's fine -- that's his right -- but I can't give 5 stars to a skipping pebble.
My favorite lines:
-"Would you like to go to the Bronx Zoo?" "Nah, man, I'm too BEAT, I was up all night." So the original street usage meant exhausted, at the bottom of the world, looking up or out, sleepless, wide-eyed, perceptive, rejected by society, on your own, streetwise.
-"Everything belongs to me because I am poor." --Kerouac
-"Who knows, my God, but that the universe is not one vast sea of compassion actually, the veritable holy honey, beneath all this show of personality and cruelty." --Kerouac
-"Why should I attack what I love out of life. This is Beat. Live your lives out? Naw, LOVE your lives out. When they come and stone you at least you won't have a glass house, just your glassy flesh." --D.T. Suzuki
-You couldn't read Lady Chatterly's Lover and you couldn't read Henry Miller in those days. Things like that were banned, illegal. You couldn't smoke any grass without being thought a dope fiend, literally, that was the language, fiend. A variety of citizen called fiends had been invented by one of the bureaucracies of the government and Billie Holiday was one of the people that were officially classified as fiends. A producer of all this intelligence and beauty and music and melancholy and sprightliness of language, and she was officially classified as a fiend. There was a revolutionary insight into the hallucinatory nature of official government classifications and terminology. It came from the experience of junkies, sick in love with their own fidelities, nostalgias, comradeships, and arts, under circumstances that by hindsight seem as cruel as Jean Valjean being pursued by his demonic policeman, Inspector Javert, in Les Miserables. I mean that's an old classic of a hurt right and wrong. In the 1940s and 1950s that hurt was not recognizable except by those who were down under the heel of the law.
-There's a generation of people who thought "beatnik" meant angry at the world rather than weeping at the world.
-"That's how writers begin, by imitating the masters (without suffering like said masters), till they learn their own style, and by the time they learn their own style there's no more fun in it, because you can't imitate any other master's suffering but your own." --Kerouac
-"O death old Captain, raise the anchors it's time let's go, plunge to the bottom of the gulf, heaven or hell, what does it matter? At the bottom of the unknown to find the new." --Baudelaire
-He's developed his practice of writing like piano playing, where he can play anything he hears, where he can write anything he can think.
-Whitman thought it was the salvation of the nation and that unless the nation were made up of comrades democracy couldn't work. A bunch of macho competitors all hating each other, or indifferent to each other, or scared of each other emotionally, would leave no possibility of a cooperative, democratic, functioning political system.
-Hello
It is disastrous to be a wounded deer.
I'm the most wounded, wolves stalk,
and I have my failures, too.
My flesh is caught on the Inevitable Hook!
As a child I saw many things I did not want to be.
Am I the person I did not want to be?
The talks-to-himself person?
That neighbors-make-fun-of person?
Am I he who, on museum steps, sleeps on his side?
Do I wear the cloth of a man who has failed?
Am I the looney man?
In the great serenade of things,
am I the most cancelled passage?
--Gregory Corso
-Italian Extravaganza
Mrs. Lombardi's month-old son is dead.
I saw it in Rizzo's funeral parlor,
A small purplish wrinkled head.
They've just finished having high mass for it;
They're coming out now
...wow, such a small coffin!
And ten black cadillacs to haul it in.
--Gregory Corso
-Metaphysics
This is the one and only
firmament; therefore
it is the absolute world.
There is no other world.
The circle is complete.
I am living in Eternity.
The ways of this world
are the ways of Heaven.
-Gregory Corso
-Carl's decision after being institutionalized for amnesia was, "I have a small mind and I mean to use it." The point there was for him to take some job which was absolutely Zen-like ordinary. So selling ice cream or being a messenger was the most average ordinary basic-reality, physical job you could find and that became his career.
This review was written by a career server-bartender.
December 30, 2016
A masterpiece. Full review: http://www.beatdom.com/review-best-mi...
February 12, 2018
Disclaimer: I read this book as an advance copy from Netgalley. My thanks go to them, Grove Press, to the author, and the editor Bill Morgan, for this opportunity. The opinions stated in the review are my own.
When I was in University I had a fantastic teacher who lit a fire under our class (or at least me) and set us off to read as much of it we could. It spoke to me as a teenager, particularly as one who yearned to do some travelling. I still love reading so much of the work that came from these writers, particularly Ginsberg, Corso and Snyder. What has come to my interest more recently is the work that came after the wild phase that lives more in legend, after the time that was kicked off during the Columbia University days.
This book is a fascinating look at back taken from Ginsberg's lectures at the Naropa Institute and at Brooklyn College. He speaks about the works, not particularly focusing on them in terms of adventures, but also recalls situations and experiences. The translation of the lectures to text works well. It doesn't require a constant recollection of his voice but the rhythm of his speech and the energy comes through very clearly. I found the pace with which I read raced and slowed as if I were there hearing it spoken aloud. Given the dialogue based nature of the text it's one I enjoyed picking up for a section or two and then returning at a later date.
Ginsberg relates his experiences, knowledge and passion for his friends' writing in this book with a palpable excitement but not an overblown one; there is criticality and introspection here. For me the most valuable and enjoyable part of reading this book was the warmth and passion that has been invested in it. Such a passion that it is passed on to the reader.
When I was in University I had a fantastic teacher who lit a fire under our class (or at least me) and set us off to read as much of it we could. It spoke to me as a teenager, particularly as one who yearned to do some travelling. I still love reading so much of the work that came from these writers, particularly Ginsberg, Corso and Snyder. What has come to my interest more recently is the work that came after the wild phase that lives more in legend, after the time that was kicked off during the Columbia University days.
This book is a fascinating look at back taken from Ginsberg's lectures at the Naropa Institute and at Brooklyn College. He speaks about the works, not particularly focusing on them in terms of adventures, but also recalls situations and experiences. The translation of the lectures to text works well. It doesn't require a constant recollection of his voice but the rhythm of his speech and the energy comes through very clearly. I found the pace with which I read raced and slowed as if I were there hearing it spoken aloud. Given the dialogue based nature of the text it's one I enjoyed picking up for a section or two and then returning at a later date.
Ginsberg relates his experiences, knowledge and passion for his friends' writing in this book with a palpable excitement but not an overblown one; there is criticality and introspection here. For me the most valuable and enjoyable part of reading this book was the warmth and passion that has been invested in it. Such a passion that it is passed on to the reader.
August 4, 2022
this book was really good. i'll admit, that since it is a collection of lectures by the late ginsberg (a lot of which you can tell the man was so high he was higher than the clouds) but it was a great intro into the beat generation for me. someone elses review on this says: "And, sadly, all that this repetition does is show that what started out as a strong, idealistic, literary movement stumbled, tea-kettled, fell up its own ass as it decided that pop-prophet obfuscation and first-thought-best-thought bleak and bright sanitarium dawn angel nonsense heaven tiddly tik tok talk was the jazz be-bop apocalypse wave of the Whitman Melville meat jukebox future." which is sadly, really accurate. Ginsberg was one of the last surviving and active people from the movement, so hearing everything from his retorpespective was exciting.
it really peaked my interest, however, there's a point midway through thatwas just really boring for me. i think its because this thign is so long and its mostly just experts frm various authors works, letters, and conversations that i can get by just reading their work. again, it serves as a great introduction and gives a lot of background on these stories. i just wish that all the commentary between was more interesting and was able to keep up with the excerts. i want my own copy of it so i can flip through it every now and again, especially when reading the books ginsberg covers in this.
i wish i didnt get bored galf way through, though, because im so mega interested in the beats and i dont think i can ever tire of the endless canon that they have to offer. but this book almot turned me off from it...
i need my own copy, thats for sure.
June 23, 2017
In the 1970s Allen Ginsburg taught a course about the Beats at the Naropa Institute and at Brooklyn College, and this book comprises edited versions of his lectures. I’m afraid I lost interest in ploughing through it quite early on – perhaps you had to be there? The lectures are rambling and discursive and although admittedly there’s some interesting stuff in them about the Beats, perhaps I’m just not the intended readership, not being a paid-up acolyte of this group of writers. Perhaps the book is more for literary historians or dedicated fans than the general reader. It certainly wasn’t for me.
September 9, 2017
A book of transcribed (with some editing) lectures of Allen Ginsberg classes about the literary history of the Beats. What's not to like? Provides immeasurable first hand insight into the writings of Kerouac, Herbert Huncke, Burroughs, Corso, John Clellon Holmes, Neal Cassady, Peter Orlovsky and Ginsberg himself.
July 2, 2017
Best Minds of My Generation: A Literary History of the Beats
This was not exactly what I was expecting but I enjoyed it. I love reading anything and everything about Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs. They were the very best writers of their time!
This was not exactly what I was expecting but I enjoyed it. I love reading anything and everything about Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs. They were the very best writers of their time!
January 12, 2025
Essential reading for fans of Beat literature and poetry, Ginsberg's brilliance and generosity with his memories of his dear and talented friends in this detailed and gossipy book makes it a joy to read. I don't know how I missed this book but i'm deeply grateful to have read it. Superb.
June 29, 2025
This book is good!!! But its hard to judge the goodness when SO much of it is repetitive and rehashings of the SAME stories and anecdotes.
This is perhaps not the fault of the editors but of Ginsbergs lecturing style and his tendency to get sidetracked?
VERY interesting if you’re like me and harbour a bit of an obsession with Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs etc. as people as well as their work.
Its long and I need to admit I did skip entire chapters at points because I got fed up of Ginsbergs ‘tea’ fuelled ramblings about how much he wanted to shag everyone.
This is perhaps not the fault of the editors but of Ginsbergs lecturing style and his tendency to get sidetracked?
VERY interesting if you’re like me and harbour a bit of an obsession with Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs etc. as people as well as their work.
Its long and I need to admit I did skip entire chapters at points because I got fed up of Ginsbergs ‘tea’ fuelled ramblings about how much he wanted to shag everyone.
January 10, 2021
Di quando sono andata alla libreria City Lights di San Francisco...
...e ho preso un libro dalla sezione beat che si trova al piano superiore. Dopo averne sfogliati un bel po’, ho scelto The Best Minds of my Generation. A Literary History of the Beats pubblicato dalla Grove Press nel 2017: è una raccolta di lezioni che Ginsberg tenne nel 1977 quando insegnava al Naropa Institute. È il libro perfetto per chi vuole addentrarsi nella cultura beat: ci sono dei capitoli su Kerouac, su Burroughs, su Gregory Corso e Peter Orlovsky, su Ginsberg stesso; resoconti, ricordi, citazioni, riflessioni sullo stile e sul linguaggio di ognuno. Soprattutto, c’è la mente di Ginsberg. Ero certa, ancor prima di approfondire, che sarebbe stato il narratore ideale, lo sguardo giusto su un fenomeno risolto e quasi accantonato, ma che invece resta ancora pieno di spunti interessanti. Come scrisse il Publishers Weekly “Ginsberg legge e pensa come un poeta”, e anche il suo racconto è un ossimoro di lucidità appassionata.
Lo racconto meglio qua: Beat come Beat Generation
...e ho preso un libro dalla sezione beat che si trova al piano superiore. Dopo averne sfogliati un bel po’, ho scelto The Best Minds of my Generation. A Literary History of the Beats pubblicato dalla Grove Press nel 2017: è una raccolta di lezioni che Ginsberg tenne nel 1977 quando insegnava al Naropa Institute. È il libro perfetto per chi vuole addentrarsi nella cultura beat: ci sono dei capitoli su Kerouac, su Burroughs, su Gregory Corso e Peter Orlovsky, su Ginsberg stesso; resoconti, ricordi, citazioni, riflessioni sullo stile e sul linguaggio di ognuno. Soprattutto, c’è la mente di Ginsberg. Ero certa, ancor prima di approfondire, che sarebbe stato il narratore ideale, lo sguardo giusto su un fenomeno risolto e quasi accantonato, ma che invece resta ancora pieno di spunti interessanti. Come scrisse il Publishers Weekly “Ginsberg legge e pensa come un poeta”, e anche il suo racconto è un ossimoro di lucidità appassionata.
Lo racconto meglio qua: Beat come Beat Generation
September 24, 2025
At the age of 71 I have discovered that I underestimated Allen Ginsberg. I have read "Howl" multiple times, including a very good annotated edition. It is one of the great 20th century American poems. None of his other poetry moved me. It seemed deliberately opaque, vague and wordy.
His public appearances became self-parody. He played the eastern mystic hippy monk roll. Classic Ginsberg was his 1967 participation in the "Exorcism of the Pentagon" demonstration which was an attempt to levitate the Pentagon and drive out the evils spirits by surrounding it and chanting.
In 1977 Ginsberg began lecturing at the Naropa University in Boulder Colorado. It is a Buddhist College. Ginsberg, along with the poet Anne Waldman established the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the school. Ginsberg lectured there every summer for the next 23 years.
The tapes of his lectures have been preserved and transcribed. Biil Morgan, the editor of this book, has done an amazing job of weaving together bits from the lectures to create a full picture of what Ginsberg had to say about his friends in the Beat movement.
Ginsberg is a very good critic and storyteller. The book is full of fascinating stuff.
The first point Ginsberg makes is that Jack Kerouac was the most important person in the Beat Generation. He says, "you've got to realize that he (Kerouac) was the conceiver....All this wouldn't exist if it weren't for Kerouac. We were just a bunch of amphetamine-head, faggot, jailbird professors. Kerouac was the energy source."
He takes a good stab at explaining what the beats had in common. "Everybody involved in the Beat generation literally had some form of break in the ordinary nature of consciousness and experience or taste of a larger consciousness or satori of some sort." Drugs, mental illness, criminal acts and generalized oddness were the common link.
He highlights influences that I never appreciated.
T. S. Eliot. William Burroughs drops a reference to "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" at the beginning of his first novel. Ginsberg traces his influence on all of them. It is surprising because on a personal level Eliot was about as far from being a beat or being hip as you can find.
Jazz. Ginsberg outlines how most of the beats self-consciously tried to take the sharp turns and long lines from the bebop Jazz of Charlie Parker, Monk, Dexter Gordon, Billie Holiday and the others as a model for their own long jagged lines in poetry and novels.
Drugs. They all smoked a lot of pot. Several had serious heroin addictions. Burroughs first novel was the autobiographical "Junky". They all used amphetamines. "Kerouac's method for writing was to take some amphetamine...and just sit down and stay there at the typewriter exhausting his mind completely, everything in his mind, everything he could think of relating to the subject."
Dostoevsky. They were all reading the Russian novelists. "Crime and Punishment" fascinated them because of its wrestling with how far an alienated soul could go. Ginsberg says that they rejected the murder committed in Crime and Punishment. "Kerouac and Burroughs and I also had a sense of good manners. I mean, you don't just go up to someone and murder them because you want to contact reality."
Ginsberg is brutally honest about his relationships with the other beats. "When I read his (Kerouac's) books I always realized that he was enormously broodingly vaster of mind and heart than myself and that my irritation (with him) was jejune, egotistical, self-defensive and contributed to his death and disillusionment. I always felt guilty. Occasionally I also realized he was full of shit and totally vain. It wasn't wisdom at all, it was some kind of paranoiac vanity. That's why he drank himself to death." That is close to the bone.
He also had doubts about Burroughs. "He (Burroughs) was interested in information and facts, not so much interested in literature..... Burroughs was always cynical about writing in the sense that he always thought it was a romantic thing to do, until he found a function for it that was practical."
Ginsberg delivers some good lines.
"There's a generation of people who thought that "beatnik" meant angry at the world rather than weeping at the world."
Hipness is "that attitude of waking up in the midst of society and finding that everyone is crazy. It was all a mad scheme and that was going to destroy everybody, and nobody was going to get out alive."
"Burroughs' thinking is parallel to Buddhist' except that Burroughs puts his trust in giant feminine insects from another galaxy. "
I didn't agree with everything he said.
Three or four times He mentions that they were reading noir detective stories as an example of how to pare down a story. Which is fine when he uses the example of Raymond Chandler but he repeatedly uses John O'Hara as an example. O'Hara did not write detective stories. He wrote about the middle and upper class. He was published in the "New Yorker". His books were best sellers in the 40s and 50s. I would be surprised if he inspired the beats.
At one point he discusses these lines from a poem by Gregory Corso;
What is power?
A hat is power.
He says, about the second line, "that's the best line in Twentieth Century American poetry." That's the silliest line in twentieth Century Amercian poetry criticism.
The last third of so of this long volume (434 page) bogs down a bit as he analyses particular poems at length.
This is a fascinating book. A very sharp guy who was in the middle of a historic literary movement has thought long and hard about it and shares his thoughts and conclusions. It is high level literary gossip. It is mostly clear and well thought out criticism. Worth spending time with.
His public appearances became self-parody. He played the eastern mystic hippy monk roll. Classic Ginsberg was his 1967 participation in the "Exorcism of the Pentagon" demonstration which was an attempt to levitate the Pentagon and drive out the evils spirits by surrounding it and chanting.
In 1977 Ginsberg began lecturing at the Naropa University in Boulder Colorado. It is a Buddhist College. Ginsberg, along with the poet Anne Waldman established the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the school. Ginsberg lectured there every summer for the next 23 years.
The tapes of his lectures have been preserved and transcribed. Biil Morgan, the editor of this book, has done an amazing job of weaving together bits from the lectures to create a full picture of what Ginsberg had to say about his friends in the Beat movement.
Ginsberg is a very good critic and storyteller. The book is full of fascinating stuff.
The first point Ginsberg makes is that Jack Kerouac was the most important person in the Beat Generation. He says, "you've got to realize that he (Kerouac) was the conceiver....All this wouldn't exist if it weren't for Kerouac. We were just a bunch of amphetamine-head, faggot, jailbird professors. Kerouac was the energy source."
He takes a good stab at explaining what the beats had in common. "Everybody involved in the Beat generation literally had some form of break in the ordinary nature of consciousness and experience or taste of a larger consciousness or satori of some sort." Drugs, mental illness, criminal acts and generalized oddness were the common link.
He highlights influences that I never appreciated.
T. S. Eliot. William Burroughs drops a reference to "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" at the beginning of his first novel. Ginsberg traces his influence on all of them. It is surprising because on a personal level Eliot was about as far from being a beat or being hip as you can find.
Jazz. Ginsberg outlines how most of the beats self-consciously tried to take the sharp turns and long lines from the bebop Jazz of Charlie Parker, Monk, Dexter Gordon, Billie Holiday and the others as a model for their own long jagged lines in poetry and novels.
Drugs. They all smoked a lot of pot. Several had serious heroin addictions. Burroughs first novel was the autobiographical "Junky". They all used amphetamines. "Kerouac's method for writing was to take some amphetamine...and just sit down and stay there at the typewriter exhausting his mind completely, everything in his mind, everything he could think of relating to the subject."
Dostoevsky. They were all reading the Russian novelists. "Crime and Punishment" fascinated them because of its wrestling with how far an alienated soul could go. Ginsberg says that they rejected the murder committed in Crime and Punishment. "Kerouac and Burroughs and I also had a sense of good manners. I mean, you don't just go up to someone and murder them because you want to contact reality."
Ginsberg is brutally honest about his relationships with the other beats. "When I read his (Kerouac's) books I always realized that he was enormously broodingly vaster of mind and heart than myself and that my irritation (with him) was jejune, egotistical, self-defensive and contributed to his death and disillusionment. I always felt guilty. Occasionally I also realized he was full of shit and totally vain. It wasn't wisdom at all, it was some kind of paranoiac vanity. That's why he drank himself to death." That is close to the bone.
He also had doubts about Burroughs. "He (Burroughs) was interested in information and facts, not so much interested in literature..... Burroughs was always cynical about writing in the sense that he always thought it was a romantic thing to do, until he found a function for it that was practical."
Ginsberg delivers some good lines.
"There's a generation of people who thought that "beatnik" meant angry at the world rather than weeping at the world."
Hipness is "that attitude of waking up in the midst of society and finding that everyone is crazy. It was all a mad scheme and that was going to destroy everybody, and nobody was going to get out alive."
"Burroughs' thinking is parallel to Buddhist' except that Burroughs puts his trust in giant feminine insects from another galaxy. "
I didn't agree with everything he said.
Three or four times He mentions that they were reading noir detective stories as an example of how to pare down a story. Which is fine when he uses the example of Raymond Chandler but he repeatedly uses John O'Hara as an example. O'Hara did not write detective stories. He wrote about the middle and upper class. He was published in the "New Yorker". His books were best sellers in the 40s and 50s. I would be surprised if he inspired the beats.
At one point he discusses these lines from a poem by Gregory Corso;
What is power?
A hat is power.
He says, about the second line, "that's the best line in Twentieth Century American poetry." That's the silliest line in twentieth Century Amercian poetry criticism.
The last third of so of this long volume (434 page) bogs down a bit as he analyses particular poems at length.
This is a fascinating book. A very sharp guy who was in the middle of a historic literary movement has thought long and hard about it and shares his thoughts and conclusions. It is high level literary gossip. It is mostly clear and well thought out criticism. Worth spending time with.
October 21, 2018
Re: Allen Ginsberg, The Best Minds of My Generation:A Literary History of the Beats, edited by Bill Morgan
Dear Rob and Lindsey,
I’m grateful to you both for sharing your writing with me and through me, to others—may these poems and pieces continue to animate “Mayahana bodhisattvic compassionate empathy” (A. Ginsberg) in the years to come, ever reverberating through world wide web.
I recently finished Allen’s personal history of his generation of writing comrades put together from his lectures at Naropa and Brooklyn College. I particularly enjoyed the many chapters on Jack Kerouac and Gregory Corso, and want to share with you some passages that may offer you stimulation/encouragement/anamnesis for your own writing practice.
As prof, his method was “to read from the texts, read my favorite fragments or things that were important to us as a group at the time. Big sentences that knocked everybody out, that turned everybody on…. [the] gists [that were] historical epiphanies for us.” [11] Lindsey, as actor, think of the tens of thousands of lines you learned for your roles—you could regale us with so many that would knock us out.
In commenting on Kerouac’s first novel, Ginsberg observed, “I think Kerouac was reading The Brothers Karamazov at the time, and so divided himself up somewhat similarly into Dostoevsky’s characters.” I’m currently editing 400+ pages of manuscript material and find myself doing something similar. [93]
Maybe you both have your versions of Kerouac’s scribbling away in notebooks: “These little notebooks provided raw materials of two kinds: diaristic details, like a reporter’s notes, about events at hand and an endless retracing in memory of all the events in his life, reaching back to his earliest childhood memories in Lowell.” [266] I never tire of mentioning the exuberant text along these lines, Joe Brainard’s I Remember.
I admit, I could let the free writing rip a whole lot faster; here, on Kerouac’s dexterity and celerity: “… the neural rapidity between his brain and his fingers was amazing. Whatever arrived in his larynx or his mind subvocally, could be immediately translated into typewritten finger pecks fast enough to complete long, long sentences including all his parenthetical subdivisions of thought form.” [224]
Remembering how Ginsberg wrote Kaddish over a long weekend, we can experiment with heroic generating endurance: “just sit down and stay there at the typewriter, exhausting his mind completely, everything in his mind, everything he could think of relating to the subject. Not at random, it would’ve to be a subject he was obsessed with, that he’d thought about and maybe at some point and realized, ‘Ahh could write a whole novel about this.’ He sat down and did it like an athlete, like an athletic event.” [258]
You both have allowed me this privileged access to your minds: “You present what you perceive through your senses and other will be able to compare their own sense experience with yours, and thus you present your mind.” [367]
Evocative of Kerouac’s maxim, “No time for poetry but exactly what is,” Ginsberg admits about his breakthrough works, “Basically what I was doing was just making up stuff for my own amusement. As this went along, and the idea that it couldn’t be published anyway, so I might as well be totally free and say anything I wanted, because it wasn’t really in poetry form. … What would you write if you were upon the moon and you knew nobody would ever see it? The writing would be sublime because there would be no reason not to say everything. So that’s the method here.” [393]
Several years back, Eliot Weinberger wrote, “As far as I can tell, the Cheney-Bush II era has not produced a single poem, song, novel, or artwork that has caught the popular imagination as a condemnation or an epitome of the times. The only enduring image is a product of journalism: the hooded figure in the Abu Ghraib photographs. By and large, the artists and writers have been what used to be called ‘good Germans,’ making their little sausages while the world around them went insane. There are only a few who have used their skills –or their magazines!—to even attempt to change the way people think.” Thank you for helping keep me sane and for expanding my sense of the possible.
Mark
Rob Trousdale studied with me in Social Justice at SLU, spring 2006, as did Lindsey Trout Hughes in fall 2008.
Dear Rob and Lindsey,
I’m grateful to you both for sharing your writing with me and through me, to others—may these poems and pieces continue to animate “Mayahana bodhisattvic compassionate empathy” (A. Ginsberg) in the years to come, ever reverberating through world wide web.
I recently finished Allen’s personal history of his generation of writing comrades put together from his lectures at Naropa and Brooklyn College. I particularly enjoyed the many chapters on Jack Kerouac and Gregory Corso, and want to share with you some passages that may offer you stimulation/encouragement/anamnesis for your own writing practice.
As prof, his method was “to read from the texts, read my favorite fragments or things that were important to us as a group at the time. Big sentences that knocked everybody out, that turned everybody on…. [the] gists [that were] historical epiphanies for us.” [11] Lindsey, as actor, think of the tens of thousands of lines you learned for your roles—you could regale us with so many that would knock us out.
In commenting on Kerouac’s first novel, Ginsberg observed, “I think Kerouac was reading The Brothers Karamazov at the time, and so divided himself up somewhat similarly into Dostoevsky’s characters.” I’m currently editing 400+ pages of manuscript material and find myself doing something similar. [93]
Maybe you both have your versions of Kerouac’s scribbling away in notebooks: “These little notebooks provided raw materials of two kinds: diaristic details, like a reporter’s notes, about events at hand and an endless retracing in memory of all the events in his life, reaching back to his earliest childhood memories in Lowell.” [266] I never tire of mentioning the exuberant text along these lines, Joe Brainard’s I Remember.
I admit, I could let the free writing rip a whole lot faster; here, on Kerouac’s dexterity and celerity: “… the neural rapidity between his brain and his fingers was amazing. Whatever arrived in his larynx or his mind subvocally, could be immediately translated into typewritten finger pecks fast enough to complete long, long sentences including all his parenthetical subdivisions of thought form.” [224]
Remembering how Ginsberg wrote Kaddish over a long weekend, we can experiment with heroic generating endurance: “just sit down and stay there at the typewriter, exhausting his mind completely, everything in his mind, everything he could think of relating to the subject. Not at random, it would’ve to be a subject he was obsessed with, that he’d thought about and maybe at some point and realized, ‘Ahh could write a whole novel about this.’ He sat down and did it like an athlete, like an athletic event.” [258]
You both have allowed me this privileged access to your minds: “You present what you perceive through your senses and other will be able to compare their own sense experience with yours, and thus you present your mind.” [367]
Evocative of Kerouac’s maxim, “No time for poetry but exactly what is,” Ginsberg admits about his breakthrough works, “Basically what I was doing was just making up stuff for my own amusement. As this went along, and the idea that it couldn’t be published anyway, so I might as well be totally free and say anything I wanted, because it wasn’t really in poetry form. … What would you write if you were upon the moon and you knew nobody would ever see it? The writing would be sublime because there would be no reason not to say everything. So that’s the method here.” [393]
Several years back, Eliot Weinberger wrote, “As far as I can tell, the Cheney-Bush II era has not produced a single poem, song, novel, or artwork that has caught the popular imagination as a condemnation or an epitome of the times. The only enduring image is a product of journalism: the hooded figure in the Abu Ghraib photographs. By and large, the artists and writers have been what used to be called ‘good Germans,’ making their little sausages while the world around them went insane. There are only a few who have used their skills –or their magazines!—to even attempt to change the way people think.” Thank you for helping keep me sane and for expanding my sense of the possible.
Mark
Rob Trousdale studied with me in Social Justice at SLU, spring 2006, as did Lindsey Trout Hughes in fall 2008.
June 30, 2020
3.5/5
someday i'll go into the long and interesting personal history of me and the beat generation, but that day is not today, and the place is not here. for now it's enough to say that i picked up this book a long time ago, added to my ever-growing collection of beat writing and kind of just let it sit. it simmered for a while, and now is the time to tell you about it.
i find the poetry of these weed-mad writers captivating, nonsensical – perfect for complete dissociation and defamiliarization. it is the biographical aspects that are suitable for, let's say, everyday consumption: i read nonfiction written by Ginsberg about Kerouac because i am madly interested in the world of the beatniks, the world that wasn't accessible to most of the people in the 40-50-60-70's, much less now. so that's one thing.
another is the indescribable irony found in every such piece of writing done by the beats about the beats. okay, maybe not all of them: maybe Holmes was the mercantile and misunderstanding catalyst that was different (emphasis on "misunderstanding", though), maybe Carr was smarter than the entire lot of the rest of them, but Ginsberg was, for fucking sure, the archivist madly in love with the archive. this book in particular reveals the obvious biases – not to say that it makes it in any way bad; on the contrary, it delivers a unique perspective and it's utterly captivating in its authenticity. but i think my favourite is the difference in his adoration for Burroughs – and older mentor, and Kerouac – a peer and what seems like a lifelong crush. for Burroughs, in the early writing and Ginsberg's own testimonials of the time the adoration is obvious, but then here, in a book compiled in later years, in hindsight, Ginsberg takes friendly jabs at Burroughs, bravely talks about the genius of his writing by comparing him to T.S. Eliot. with Kerouac it's a completely different story: no one was doing the stream of consciousness prose like Kerouac (when i personally think Woolf does it perfectly well), and Kerouac was the greatest american writer precisely because he was unique. i would say that in a way it's a case of semantics: Burroughs never considered himself a writer. what's interesting to me is Ginsberg's own distinction in his mind, the way he chooses to tell this story.
i should add here that everything in Gregory Corso was written with a father-like reverence and appreciation, to which i relate and thus it was probably my favourite part of the book. Ginsberg explaining the Corso methods of writing was exquisite and much appreciated, i must say.
Aalso, the entire last section on Kerouac's writing rules of sorts is an interesting manual for an aspiring american writer. here i agree with Ginsberg: Kerouac sure knew how to get to the very centre of things and he encapsulated the essence of all-american writing in the thirty short positions on the list. i myself will not be using it, because, well. it is so tooth-achingly american. i shall refer to Dostoyevsky for my own thing instead.
i was really hyped for the Howl segment, but i didn't really learn anything new: i believe there exists a copy of Ginsberg's drafts somewhere online where the annotations are more detailed. overall i couldn't quite get into this book fully because it was presented as transcription of university lectures, but lots of it was anecdotes and letters – which makes sense, given the identity of the lecturer himself, but it was certainly jarring to jump from extremely interesting and enlightening discussions of techniques to the gossip about Kerouac's or Carr's life.
bottom line: super interesting regardless, but jarring nevertheless.
i wouldn't recommend it as the introduction to the beat generation, but i think it's definitely worth checking out if you're an avid beat reader like myself.
Out the frame of reference with the frame of reference <...> Conception eliminates conceptualization. The mind erases itself.
someday i'll go into the long and interesting personal history of me and the beat generation, but that day is not today, and the place is not here. for now it's enough to say that i picked up this book a long time ago, added to my ever-growing collection of beat writing and kind of just let it sit. it simmered for a while, and now is the time to tell you about it.
i find the poetry of these weed-mad writers captivating, nonsensical – perfect for complete dissociation and defamiliarization. it is the biographical aspects that are suitable for, let's say, everyday consumption: i read nonfiction written by Ginsberg about Kerouac because i am madly interested in the world of the beatniks, the world that wasn't accessible to most of the people in the 40-50-60-70's, much less now. so that's one thing.
another is the indescribable irony found in every such piece of writing done by the beats about the beats. okay, maybe not all of them: maybe Holmes was the mercantile and misunderstanding catalyst that was different (emphasis on "misunderstanding", though), maybe Carr was smarter than the entire lot of the rest of them, but Ginsberg was, for fucking sure, the archivist madly in love with the archive. this book in particular reveals the obvious biases – not to say that it makes it in any way bad; on the contrary, it delivers a unique perspective and it's utterly captivating in its authenticity. but i think my favourite is the difference in his adoration for Burroughs – and older mentor, and Kerouac – a peer and what seems like a lifelong crush. for Burroughs, in the early writing and Ginsberg's own testimonials of the time the adoration is obvious, but then here, in a book compiled in later years, in hindsight, Ginsberg takes friendly jabs at Burroughs, bravely talks about the genius of his writing by comparing him to T.S. Eliot. with Kerouac it's a completely different story: no one was doing the stream of consciousness prose like Kerouac (when i personally think Woolf does it perfectly well), and Kerouac was the greatest american writer precisely because he was unique. i would say that in a way it's a case of semantics: Burroughs never considered himself a writer. what's interesting to me is Ginsberg's own distinction in his mind, the way he chooses to tell this story.
i should add here that everything in Gregory Corso was written with a father-like reverence and appreciation, to which i relate and thus it was probably my favourite part of the book. Ginsberg explaining the Corso methods of writing was exquisite and much appreciated, i must say.
Aalso, the entire last section on Kerouac's writing rules of sorts is an interesting manual for an aspiring american writer. here i agree with Ginsberg: Kerouac sure knew how to get to the very centre of things and he encapsulated the essence of all-american writing in the thirty short positions on the list. i myself will not be using it, because, well. it is so tooth-achingly american. i shall refer to Dostoyevsky for my own thing instead.
i was really hyped for the Howl segment, but i didn't really learn anything new: i believe there exists a copy of Ginsberg's drafts somewhere online where the annotations are more detailed. overall i couldn't quite get into this book fully because it was presented as transcription of university lectures, but lots of it was anecdotes and letters – which makes sense, given the identity of the lecturer himself, but it was certainly jarring to jump from extremely interesting and enlightening discussions of techniques to the gossip about Kerouac's or Carr's life.
bottom line: super interesting regardless, but jarring nevertheless.
i wouldn't recommend it as the introduction to the beat generation, but i think it's definitely worth checking out if you're an avid beat reader like myself.
October 8, 2020
The Best Minds of My Generation: A Literary History of the Beats by Allen Ginsberg is a college course on the beat generation. Ginsberg needs little introduction, but as an author of nonfiction, some introduction is in order. Ginsberg is perhaps best known as one of the original Beat writers and most notably for “The Howl” and the obscenity trials. His collection The Fall shared the 1974 National Book Award and a Pulitzer Finalist for his work Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986–1992.
This book serves as the basis for the classes Ginsburg taught at Naropa Institute and at Brooklyn College. Like many liberal arts courses getting to the end of the information that needs to be presented in the time allowed for the class... one rarely finishes. The overwhelming amount of information is a limiting factor of the detail of the presentation. Also, different areas tend to be given more attention than others. By putting the course into book format, the information is preserved in detail and the reader is free to take in the information in any order. Although not hearing the instructor/author speak, the reader is also not relying on their hurried notes.
If there was a leader of the Beats, Ginsberg insists it was Kerouac. Kerouac is given the biggest section of the book. Ginsberg analyzes several books and the history of the publication. He also gives first-hand information on Kerouac’s life and writing experience. Most of Kerouac’s books are at least semi-autobiographical and Ginsberg gives the behind scene look. And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks ties Kerouac to Burroughs.
William S. Burroughs is covered next. Part of this section concerns Burroughs letters to Ginsberg while he was in South America. Readers who have read Junkie remember Burroughs (writing as William Lee) signing off with his plan to head to South America and search for the hallucinogen yage. The letters pick up there (much like Kerouac’s books run back to back). Needless to say, Burroughs does find the yage and writes about it. Ginsberg goes on to explain Burroughs cut-up style. The explanation includes the theory behind the cut-up method which seems to make more sense than the method itself. The idea is that we are presented with information in such a way to hide the real message. The cut-up reveals the true method. The idea was that you could take a Nixon speech, cut it up, rearrange the pieces, and find out the true meaning of the speech.
William Carlos Williams had a great influence on Ginsberg and is praised throughout the book, Gregory Corso, Hubert Huncke, John Clellon Holmes, Carl Solomon, Peter Orlovsky, and of course Neal Cassady all have a small section of the book. Ginsberg does include himself and it is informative and yet very humble. As the central figure and historian of Beats, Ginsberg plays the role of the narrator rather than a major player. The introduction is by Anne Waldman poet and a member of the Outrider experimental poetry community and she provides and excellent introduction. The Best Minds of My Generation provides a detailed examination of the beat movement and its members. Small chapters with descriptive titles will also allow the read to pick and choose their interests if they do not want to read the book cover to cover. An excellent history.
Available 4/4/17
This book serves as the basis for the classes Ginsburg taught at Naropa Institute and at Brooklyn College. Like many liberal arts courses getting to the end of the information that needs to be presented in the time allowed for the class... one rarely finishes. The overwhelming amount of information is a limiting factor of the detail of the presentation. Also, different areas tend to be given more attention than others. By putting the course into book format, the information is preserved in detail and the reader is free to take in the information in any order. Although not hearing the instructor/author speak, the reader is also not relying on their hurried notes.
If there was a leader of the Beats, Ginsberg insists it was Kerouac. Kerouac is given the biggest section of the book. Ginsberg analyzes several books and the history of the publication. He also gives first-hand information on Kerouac’s life and writing experience. Most of Kerouac’s books are at least semi-autobiographical and Ginsberg gives the behind scene look. And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks ties Kerouac to Burroughs.
William S. Burroughs is covered next. Part of this section concerns Burroughs letters to Ginsberg while he was in South America. Readers who have read Junkie remember Burroughs (writing as William Lee) signing off with his plan to head to South America and search for the hallucinogen yage. The letters pick up there (much like Kerouac’s books run back to back). Needless to say, Burroughs does find the yage and writes about it. Ginsberg goes on to explain Burroughs cut-up style. The explanation includes the theory behind the cut-up method which seems to make more sense than the method itself. The idea is that we are presented with information in such a way to hide the real message. The cut-up reveals the true method. The idea was that you could take a Nixon speech, cut it up, rearrange the pieces, and find out the true meaning of the speech.
William Carlos Williams had a great influence on Ginsberg and is praised throughout the book, Gregory Corso, Hubert Huncke, John Clellon Holmes, Carl Solomon, Peter Orlovsky, and of course Neal Cassady all have a small section of the book. Ginsberg does include himself and it is informative and yet very humble. As the central figure and historian of Beats, Ginsberg plays the role of the narrator rather than a major player. The introduction is by Anne Waldman poet and a member of the Outrider experimental poetry community and she provides and excellent introduction. The Best Minds of My Generation provides a detailed examination of the beat movement and its members. Small chapters with descriptive titles will also allow the read to pick and choose their interests if they do not want to read the book cover to cover. An excellent history.
Available 4/4/17
January 18, 2018
The writings of Kerouac and Ginsberg speak to me like no other authors. There is something primal in their books, non-pedantic, with great insight without being intellectual. When I read Joyce or Proust, I'm thinking: oh my god, I need to go back to school, I am not smart enough for this! With the Beats, I feel I am one of them, a shared experience in my shambling, stumbling life. Despite the depth of their reading, they seem to readily admit their literary, social and personal faults. I dunno, I cannot articulate what their novels, their poetry and letters bring to me other than a cry from within: Yes! Yes! Yes! I understand that! I understand the confusion, the mental chaos, the nightmare of social situations and the conformity of the masses; the bliss, the agony and ecstasy of overindulgence in conscious altering substances, I feel what you are trying to say and do and we are so limited by this corporeal existence, this meat body, so beautiful and transient.
This work is a compilation of Ginsberg's lectures and talks at Naropa. It is not quite as in depth as I thought it would be compared to his journals or letters, which are very revealing. There are some points made that are illuminating, but not many that are not covered in other works by or about the Beats. Still a great addition to the ouvre of Beat writing edited by Bill Morgan.
This work is a compilation of Ginsberg's lectures and talks at Naropa. It is not quite as in depth as I thought it would be compared to his journals or letters, which are very revealing. There are some points made that are illuminating, but not many that are not covered in other works by or about the Beats. Still a great addition to the ouvre of Beat writing edited by Bill Morgan.
June 24, 2018
I was really eager to read The Best Minds of My Generation but had been put off by an experience of reading On The Road by Jack Kerouac. This will probably shock a lot of people but I just didn’t rate it. I read it because I felt like I was supposed to have read it. But, to be perfectly honest, I just wasn’t that impressed.
Anyway, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it and just immerse myself in the world of the Beat Writers.
I kind of wish I had chosen another book to read. That probably sounds really harsh but it is because this book, The Best Minds of My Generation, is clearly for hardcore Beat enthusiasts. It is not for someone who is tentatively dipping their toes into this genre.
My recommendation would be that anyone wanting to learn about the history of this period then look elsewhere. If you already love this genre of writing then knock yourself out.
The Best Minds of My Generation – A Literary History of the Beats by Allen Ginsberg is available now.
For more information regarding Grove Atlantic (@groveatlantic) please visit www.groveatlantic.com.
Anyway, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it and just immerse myself in the world of the Beat Writers.
I kind of wish I had chosen another book to read. That probably sounds really harsh but it is because this book, The Best Minds of My Generation, is clearly for hardcore Beat enthusiasts. It is not for someone who is tentatively dipping their toes into this genre.
My recommendation would be that anyone wanting to learn about the history of this period then look elsewhere. If you already love this genre of writing then knock yourself out.
The Best Minds of My Generation – A Literary History of the Beats by Allen Ginsberg is available now.
For more information regarding Grove Atlantic (@groveatlantic) please visit www.groveatlantic.com.
December 28, 2024
This book is culled, structured, and edited from lectures Ginsberg gave at Naropa in the late seventies and early eighties. He covers the original Beat writers, namely Kerouac, Burroughs, Corso, and himself, and the works that were published at that time while occasionally referencing those which and yet so come out. In his inimitable weaving style he gives one of the clearest and most intimate assessments of the common and diverging themes of those works and describes their literary and greater impact.
There are now many literary biographies and commentaries on these authors and the works themselves are both introspective of their authors and reflective of the greater movement of which they were part. Yet Ginsberg’s lectures captured here are perhaps the earliest given that they were formed as these books circulated among the tight knit group in draft form and were certainly the most intimate. This is essential reading for fans and students of the Beats.
Incidentally, recordings of some of Ginsberg’s lectures can be found on archive.org and around the web.
There are now many literary biographies and commentaries on these authors and the works themselves are both introspective of their authors and reflective of the greater movement of which they were part. Yet Ginsberg’s lectures captured here are perhaps the earliest given that they were formed as these books circulated among the tight knit group in draft form and were certainly the most intimate. This is essential reading for fans and students of the Beats.
Incidentally, recordings of some of Ginsberg’s lectures can be found on archive.org and around the web.
August 7, 2018
A series of lectures Allen Ginsberg gave at the Naropa Institute and Brooklyn College. While I have no doubt that these were fascinating lectures to hear Ginsberg give, on paper they lose something in the translation. I believe part of the allure of being taught by Ginsberg was sitting in the same room as the greatest poet of the second-half of the twentieth century. Certainly the chapters dedicated to his writing style are intriguing reads, giving a rare look into how he crafted his poems, other subjects though, are not as interesting. The problem is that Ginsberg always leads with heart - he loved Kerouac and Corso, Burroughs, and Orlovsky, so there writing can do no wrong in his opinion and are beacons to how we should all aspire to write. Holmes doesn't fare so well.
I would definitely recommend the book for the Ginsberg section alone, just don't plan on reading an unbiased look at the working habits and styles of the major figures from the Beat Generation.
I would definitely recommend the book for the Ginsberg section alone, just don't plan on reading an unbiased look at the working habits and styles of the major figures from the Beat Generation.
July 24, 2019
What strikes me most about this collection of talks Ginsberg gave to his students at Naropa is how deeply he cared about his contemporaries/friends and their literary legacies. For the most part, what he says is lucid and insightful and could only be gleaned from his mind. This collection is very, very long though, and much of it goes on for TOO long.
To be honest, I skimmed a lot of this book. I found some of what he says to be a bit eyebrow-raising (his assessment of John Clellon Holmes' "Go"; the genius he sees in some of the work of Burroughs and Corso that doesn't merit such adulation) but regardless, his takes are thoughtful and first-hand -- he was there, after all. Worth picking up, though probably not worth reading through entirely. Pick and choose; there are 49 chapters here.
To be honest, I skimmed a lot of this book. I found some of what he says to be a bit eyebrow-raising (his assessment of John Clellon Holmes' "Go"; the genius he sees in some of the work of Burroughs and Corso that doesn't merit such adulation) but regardless, his takes are thoughtful and first-hand -- he was there, after all. Worth picking up, though probably not worth reading through entirely. Pick and choose; there are 49 chapters here.
November 23, 2021
I give this book the highest rating. It is superb. Here we have Allen Ginsberg's lectures on the history of the Beat Generation, but not a gossipy, pop-history, this is a literary history by one of the four pillars of the movement. This book focuses on those four: Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and Ginsberg himself. Turns out Ginsberg is very good at breaking down the methods of each writer, explaining who they were, how they worked, and, what I found most edifying, what exactly they were trying to accomplish with their writing. If you are a fan of the Beats, I cannot recommend this book to you enough. I loved it. I feel I really learned a lot. And now I'm eager to go back and reread the Beat ouvre.
October 12, 2017
This one was a challenge for me to get through. I think it's because I'm not used to reading books like this. This book is essentially a compilation of Ginsberg's lectures. I did feel as if I were in a classroom which was pretty neat. He explained the writing process and how each person was different in their own way. He also said that everyone was in love with Kerouac. I would have probably liked this book better if there was a mini bio before each shift to the next person because some of them I wasn't sure what their contribution to literature was. It did make me want to read Dostoevsky and William Carlos Williams!
June 9, 2018
I thought I'd love this book but it's all so pretentious and self-obsessed.
I was alienated from the start when Anne Waldman in the Foreword says "The women are missing here unless as mothers, lovers, wives, sometimes victims". I wonder what it was like for Ginsberg's female students to listen to him waxing lyrical about Burroughs and then to be told 'I think Burroughs hates women'. And 'at one point Burroughs thought maybe you ought to exterminate all the women, just get rid of them all, let them drop off like an unwanted appendage'.
The casual sexism and racism in the lectures turned me off completely.
I was alienated from the start when Anne Waldman in the Foreword says "The women are missing here unless as mothers, lovers, wives, sometimes victims". I wonder what it was like for Ginsberg's female students to listen to him waxing lyrical about Burroughs and then to be told 'I think Burroughs hates women'. And 'at one point Burroughs thought maybe you ought to exterminate all the women, just get rid of them all, let them drop off like an unwanted appendage'.
The casual sexism and racism in the lectures turned me off completely.
May 5, 2021
Finally finished despite having a reading hiatus for a few weeks. I’m a big fan of the writing and literature surrounding the Beat Generation and Ginsberg’s collections of essays/lectures is essential in understanding the writing, individuals and influences of the period. It focus on a broad range from artistic and cultural influences, poetics and the development of the socio-cultural movements of the 40-60’s.
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