Beat Collection

by Robert (editor) Miles

By dividing the Beat Collection into three The Original BeatsNew York 1944-53; The San Francisco Scene 1954-57 and The Second WaveNew York 1958-60, New York Times bestselling author and Beat expert Barry Miles pulls together writings from, among others, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, John Clellon Holmes, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Lamantia, Frank O'Hara, Diane DiPrima and Alexander Trocchi to create a fascinating compendium that epitomizes the Beat vibe.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Anthologies

Hardcover

First published November 10, 2005

Reviews

[Canned Laughter (Joie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most compendiums, the editor overlooks influential women like Joanne Kyger and barely nods at Diane DiPrima and Lenore Kandel. It's a shame that the machismo world of beat poetry rarely has room for women even in a 359 page volume. Nothing particularly new or interesting in Miles' Introduction or Biographical notes. The longer poem selections are often disjointed snippets from the originals. These samples from longer works rarely read well. I did like the way he divided the collection into subsets, but there are better Beat collections out there. My four stars are based solely on content and the inclusion of some lesser known works. I would have given the editing two stars.