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Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber
'Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!-and you, García Lorca, what were you doing by the watermelons?'
Profane and prophetic verses about sex, death, revolution and America by the great icon of Beat poetry.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
64 pages, eBook Kindle
First published February 22, 2018
70 people are currently reading
1549 people want to read
About the author
Allen Ginsberg
490 books4,110 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 354 reviews
September 14, 2020
''He fucked me in the East
He fucked me in the West
He fucked me South
My cock in his mouth
He fucked me North
No sperm shot forth.''
He fucked me in the West
He fucked me South
My cock in his mouth
He fucked me North
No sperm shot forth.''
March 26, 2018
I have wanted to read some of Ginsberg's poetry for a long time, simply because he is considered to be such an important voice in 20th Century literature. Having read this short book, I am now grateful that I somehow managed to avoid his work until now, and I am dismayed that I finally took the plunge. But first let me state that I have no intention of disparaging anyone who finds merit and inspiration in his poetry. It's simply a case of it being not for me, but there are reasons why it isn't for me and these reasons are manifold:
The poems feel vastly self-indulgent, demented and often puerile rants, word splurges obsessed with narcissistic reaffirmations, scatological, irrational and shallow tirades. Ginsberg's penchant for name dropping is just one of his very irritating mannerisms, and many of his political/topical references have dated so badly that they have simply become obscure. His scatological examinations are puerile rather than whatever they are supposed to be (political? psychological? liberating?) and morbidly distasteful without any compensations. He reads like Burroughs without the wit and invention, just with the word salad mind and an overwhelming sense of bitterness disguised as activism. The poems are really just a long litany of barely-articulate complaints from someone who feels excluded from power, and his criticisms of that power appears to stem less from a philosophical or moral conviction than from some kind of weird twisted envy that he isn't the one in control. The title poem especially reads like a hebephrenic tantrum put into words. And even though there are occasional shards of beauty in some of the poems, they feel more like accidental fusions of random phrases rather than the products of a deliberate creative force.
Sorry.... :-(
The poems feel vastly self-indulgent, demented and often puerile rants, word splurges obsessed with narcissistic reaffirmations, scatological, irrational and shallow tirades. Ginsberg's penchant for name dropping is just one of his very irritating mannerisms, and many of his political/topical references have dated so badly that they have simply become obscure. His scatological examinations are puerile rather than whatever they are supposed to be (political? psychological? liberating?) and morbidly distasteful without any compensations. He reads like Burroughs without the wit and invention, just with the word salad mind and an overwhelming sense of bitterness disguised as activism. The poems are really just a long litany of barely-articulate complaints from someone who feels excluded from power, and his criticisms of that power appears to stem less from a philosophical or moral conviction than from some kind of weird twisted envy that he isn't the one in control. The title poem especially reads like a hebephrenic tantrum put into words. And even though there are occasional shards of beauty in some of the poems, they feel more like accidental fusions of random phrases rather than the products of a deliberate creative force.
Sorry.... :-(
January 12, 2022
I can see why many readers disliked this small collection of poetry. I didn't really like the poems either. These are poems of the moment - written in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. A frenetic roar against capitalism and greed. Graphic poems about sex, love and revolution - all blending together. So angry, so sad, so hard to digest. But these poems took me back to when I first read Ginsberg in the late 70s. He blew my mind and exposed a world I had not experienced before. Stars can't measure that.
Penguin Modern Classics
#1 - Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
#2 - Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber by Allen Ginsberg
Penguin Modern Classics
#1 - Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
#2 - Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber by Allen Ginsberg
April 18, 2018
While a few pieces were interesting the over all feel was the ramblings of a whiner.
I want some whine with my food,
Vintage whine,
A Ginsberg red whine,
Red whine,
The kind of whine that will make you sick,
A whine from the beat,
As red as the meat I eat,
A whine that will fall with a "FUCK",
Like I give because the meat is old,
A Ginsberg whine that leaves me cold,
Mescaline bullshit to go,
Ginsberg bullshit style,
SHIT FUCK CUNT BOLLOCKS, because I can,
Red whine that punctures the skin.
Potty mouth shit will make a legend,
A dated writer of whine it's not mine,
The meat is cold,
My Ginsberg '58 is stale,
Whine,
Red whine,
Ginsberg whine,
I want some whine with my food,
Vintage whine,
A Ginsberg red whine,
Red whine,
The kind of whine that will make you sick,
A whine from the beat,
As red as the meat I eat,
A whine that will fall with a "FUCK",
Like I give because the meat is old,
A Ginsberg whine that leaves me cold,
Mescaline bullshit to go,
Ginsberg bullshit style,
SHIT FUCK CUNT BOLLOCKS, because I can,
Red whine that punctures the skin.
Potty mouth shit will make a legend,
A dated writer of whine it's not mine,
The meat is cold,
My Ginsberg '58 is stale,
Whine,
Red whine,
Ginsberg whine,
October 15, 2021
Video Review
In the video review above I recite my favourite poem from this collection of about 13 and give a rundown of general thoughts.
I think most people will dislike this, especially female readers, given how explicit and phallic almost all of the poetry is, but that which isn't is actually quite interesting once we get past the fact he's writing wildly in ALL CAPS. Howl was better. I feel there should be more nuance to gay erotic poetry, but perhaps I'm not the person to ask?
Truth is, I've never liked Beat culture, as it tries to glorify a terrible lifestyle. Though if you read Ginsberg's poetry as a response to living this lifestyle, and the motivation for it, then it gives a perspective of what it was like to live on the fringes of society back then. Or maybe my gripe with Beat culture is the noise and fear of vulnerability in it.
This poetry collection was so unabsorbing to me that in reading in a busy public square in Oxford I noticed a girl leaving her bag after a smoke break on a bench and managed to get it back to her.
--Original Review--
Comprehensive Review TBC.
A collection of ~10 of Ginsberg's poems, and at least 2 of them are about his anus!
That Penguin think this represents 1 of the 50 best writers in the last century is both hilarious, sad, true, complex, absurd...
In the video review above I recite my favourite poem from this collection of about 13 and give a rundown of general thoughts.
I think most people will dislike this, especially female readers, given how explicit and phallic almost all of the poetry is, but that which isn't is actually quite interesting once we get past the fact he's writing wildly in ALL CAPS. Howl was better. I feel there should be more nuance to gay erotic poetry, but perhaps I'm not the person to ask?
Truth is, I've never liked Beat culture, as it tries to glorify a terrible lifestyle. Though if you read Ginsberg's poetry as a response to living this lifestyle, and the motivation for it, then it gives a perspective of what it was like to live on the fringes of society back then. Or maybe my gripe with Beat culture is the noise and fear of vulnerability in it.
This poetry collection was so unabsorbing to me that in reading in a busy public square in Oxford I noticed a girl leaving her bag after a smoke break on a bench and managed to get it back to her.
--Original Review--
Comprehensive Review TBC.
A collection of ~10 of Ginsberg's poems, and at least 2 of them are about his anus!
That Penguin think this represents 1 of the 50 best writers in the last century is both hilarious, sad, true, complex, absurd...
October 21, 2018
Ginsberg is considered one of the greats for good reason. His abrupt and invigorating language is exciting and interesting. Some critique him as being aggressive but in a time where being gay, Jewish and a communist was a deadly combination, his refusal to be made silent is heroic. A true pioneer of sexual and political liberation, Ginsberg's lines are profane yet profound, fuelling many revolutions.
"To see Void vast infinite look out the window into the blue sky."
"To see Void vast infinite look out the window into the blue sky."
May 9, 2021
Reminds me of a edgy 14 year old who had sex for the first time and wanted to tell everybody about it.
March 29, 2022
…i have not a clue what i just read
November 16, 2025
This was my first time reading Allen Ginsberg. I’m not usually a poetry reader, but a few of the pieces here turned out to be surprisingly entertaining, crude, sharp, and occasionally biting, especially America.
Overall, it’s a solid read. My only real frustration came from the heavy pop-culture references of the era; readers from the 2000s generation might not catch all of them—myself included. Still, it was an interesting introduction to Ginsberg’s voice.
Overall, it’s a solid read. My only real frustration came from the heavy pop-culture references of the era; readers from the 2000s generation might not catch all of them—myself included. Still, it was an interesting introduction to Ginsberg’s voice.
June 10, 2019
I don't share some Goodreads reviewers' impressions of Ginsberg as incoherent, whiny or vulgar - his work in this volume is indeed marked by an ambitiously wide-reaching, actually global perspective that rails and pleads by turns against increasingly dominant imperialist and capitalist forces in world and US politics of his time, but a look at his biography (which, being easily enough available online, I don't fault Penguin for leaving out of this volume, as in the other Mini Modern Classics of this set) reveals a sincere and lifelong preoccupation with these issues that manifested in travel, study of Eastern religions, and activism. His supposed incoherence can be ascribed both to the breadth of the themes he wishes to address (which to my mind still come through in clear thematic units despite the abstract, elusive or "obscure" individual lines, allusions, and images) and to his receptivity to different forms of consciousness inspired by meditative practice, family history of mental illness, personal hallucinatory and mystical experiences, and experiments with a range of drugs. The volume also presents a range of Ginsberg's work with samples taken from his 20s to his 70s. Taking the author's life story, broad social network, and cultural/historical context into account should help us see him as something more than a juvenile provocateur, as some seem to, but rather as a distinctly American voice with a conscientious worldly perspective conditioned by upbringing and deep personal experience with the world around and within.
February 23, 2021
Ich möchte wirklich gar nicht sagen, dass diese Gedichte nicht gut sind. Ich möchte aber unbedingt sagen: Ich verstehe sie nicht. Und die, die ich verstehe, mag ich nicht. Don‘t say I haven‘t tried.
January 10, 2021
Full review to follow!
November 19, 2023
«Chopping apples for the fruit compote- suffer, suffer, suffer,suffer!». Had a little giggle
December 15, 2024
Random words in random order. Terrible. Mind breaths is okay, after that it just gets too explicit.
Bad, give this to your most pretentious enemy, 3/10
Bad, give this to your most pretentious enemy, 3/10
February 23, 2018
This was my first introduction to Ginsberg, and it did not disappoint. It is intense and i've already started learning more about him, his poetry and the Beat Generation. I highly recommend this as a starting point. It doesn't shy away from topics and questions that he asks are still relevant today. Some beautifully written pieces, my favourite is "I Am a Victim of Telephone
Works included;
- Pull My Daisy
-A Supermarket in California
-America
-Death to Van Gogh's Ear!
-Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber
-I Am a Victim of Telephone
-Mind Breaths
-Fourth Floor, Dawn, Up All Night Writing Letters
-Love Comes
-Sphincer
-Personal Ad
-American Sentences
-C'mon Pigs of Western Civilization Eat More Grease
Works included;
- Pull My Daisy
-A Supermarket in California
-America
-Death to Van Gogh's Ear!
-Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber
-I Am a Victim of Telephone
-Mind Breaths
-Fourth Floor, Dawn, Up All Night Writing Letters
-Love Comes
-Sphincer
-Personal Ad
-American Sentences
-C'mon Pigs of Western Civilization Eat More Grease
March 18, 2022
"... and I do love him -
tall body, pale skin,
Hot hearth within,
open blue eyes -
a hard cock never lies."
Amen, brother Ginsberg.
tall body, pale skin,
Hot hearth within,
open blue eyes -
a hard cock never lies."
Amen, brother Ginsberg.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2025
I kept getting distracted by my nice nail polish whilst trying to read this horrible little book
(I liked maybe 2 poems and they were the short ones)
(I liked maybe 2 poems and they were the short ones)
February 26, 2024
Meh, rambling poetry like this makes it hard to follow the experience.
July 1, 2023
w t f chyba wolałem go jako Radcliffa w filmie
January 31, 2020
Well, now I can check the "Allen Ginsberg" box off my list. This was quite the trip, especially his early poetry, which reads like a stream of consciousness rant designed more to evoke images than convey information – which I guess is the point of poetry, but I've never read any so aggressively vulgar, or really just so aggressive, period.
Further, as is always a risk with political writings, numerous references have passed from timely to obscure over the past fifty years, making what little understanding I was able to glean from them all the more fragmented and useless.
Ginsberg's later poems, however, are mellower – I won't say "better" since art is art, but I certainaly got a lot more out of them. Overall, though, this small book took me three days to read, which isn't a good sign. I enjoyed a small fraction of these poems, and the angriest of them – the ones I was most inclined to like because of their political content – were lost amid a torrent of hyperbolic rage that has not aged well.
Further, as is always a risk with political writings, numerous references have passed from timely to obscure over the past fifty years, making what little understanding I was able to glean from them all the more fragmented and useless.
Ginsberg's later poems, however, are mellower – I won't say "better" since art is art, but I certainaly got a lot more out of them. Overall, though, this small book took me three days to read, which isn't a good sign. I enjoyed a small fraction of these poems, and the angriest of them – the ones I was most inclined to like because of their political content – were lost amid a torrent of hyperbolic rage that has not aged well.
February 9, 2019
I understand why Ginsberg is an important icon of his times and the transformation of poetry, and admire the candid, matter-of-factly manner of his exhibitionism, but I'm afraid his poems are, overall, not really my cup of tea. There were a few images I liked, about the American social landscape he was in at the time; they were so powerful I could picture it, though I can't recall any verses once I've put the book down.
February 4, 2019
God this was long and derivative and obscene
I think my favourite out of this collection was the one titled 'America', which really reminded me of The 1975's song 'I Like America and America Likes Me' aha
I think my favourite out of this collection was the one titled 'America', which really reminded me of The 1975's song 'I Like America and America Likes Me' aha
January 1, 2019
I am so confused... this guy makes no sense
September 15, 2020
the kind of books I hate and I would banish if I could. I would love to give it ZERO stars but I can't.
May 1, 2024
*2.5*
Pungent and sharp poems that distinguished him as a part of the Beat Generation, writing about his distaste of America at the time. His rage certainly comes across, but at times makes him poetry sour.
Pungent and sharp poems that distinguished him as a part of the Beat Generation, writing about his distaste of America at the time. His rage certainly comes across, but at times makes him poetry sour.
November 11, 2021
As usual, I didn’t really connect to all the poems in this short collection, but those that I did like were breathtaking. They were so vivid, rhythmic and beautiful in all their ugliness. I’m thrilled that owning the collection of little green penguin modern books has brought me to read this title that I would not necessarily have picked up myself.
April 12, 2022
he's a genius
January 13, 2023
Some of the “crazies” in the Texas school board would certainly BAN this little book. But, considering when it was written, and the subject matter, I found it eye opening, to say the least.
November 17, 2025
read with one eye half asleep and still didn’t miss anything
Displaying 1 - 30 of 354 reviews