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The Beats: From Kerouac to Kesey, an Illustrated Journey through the Beat Generation
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road, the defining book of the Beat Generation. Jack Kerouac wrote his masterpiece in one frenzied three-week period in 1951 on the infamous 119-foot scroll, which has been “on the road” touring the nation since 2004, slated to continue on through spring 2008. The scroll will also be published in its original, unedited version in book form for the very first time in 2007.
Tying into the anniversary and the resurgence of the Beat movement in our collective cultural consciousness is our lavishly illustrated book The Beats, a spectacular record of that most explosive period, when the conservative blandness of ’50s America gave way to the artistic, social, and sexual liberation of the ’60s. With over 200 illustrations, many rarely seen before, the book tells the story of the Beat Generation from its subterranean beginnings in New York and San Francisco to world-wide acclaim. Set against the backdrop of seedy student pads, smoky jazz cellars, and-most crucially-the open road, it’s a story of a rebellion that challenged society’s attitudes towards sex, drugs, and freedom of speech. Following the turbulent saga of Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and the other Beats via reckless love affairs, obscenity trials, murder cases, and press vilification, to media celebrity and the “Beatnik” craze that followed, their story represents the evolution of the counterculture from hipsters to hippies.
Featuring a wealth of first-hand quotes, archive documentation, and exclusive interview material with Beat wife, muse, and chronicler Carolyn Cassady, The Beats is a timely celebration of a seminal-and often neglected-era in modern popular culture.
Tying into the anniversary and the resurgence of the Beat movement in our collective cultural consciousness is our lavishly illustrated book The Beats, a spectacular record of that most explosive period, when the conservative blandness of ’50s America gave way to the artistic, social, and sexual liberation of the ’60s. With over 200 illustrations, many rarely seen before, the book tells the story of the Beat Generation from its subterranean beginnings in New York and San Francisco to world-wide acclaim. Set against the backdrop of seedy student pads, smoky jazz cellars, and-most crucially-the open road, it’s a story of a rebellion that challenged society’s attitudes towards sex, drugs, and freedom of speech. Following the turbulent saga of Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and the other Beats via reckless love affairs, obscenity trials, murder cases, and press vilification, to media celebrity and the “Beatnik” craze that followed, their story represents the evolution of the counterculture from hipsters to hippies.
Featuring a wealth of first-hand quotes, archive documentation, and exclusive interview material with Beat wife, muse, and chronicler Carolyn Cassady, The Beats is a timely celebration of a seminal-and often neglected-era in modern popular culture.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2007
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52 people want to read
About the author
Mike Evans
47 books12 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 3, 2021
Well it has some nice photos although many already seen elsewhere. But then there’s a bit too much by way of stock photography and space filling. Context to the wider arts is laudable but overall very pedestrian look at the Beats for absolute beginners only, and even then better books out there. Indeed for Kerouac Angelheaded Hipster does what this attempts to with much more style, insight and better photos.
Also too much focus on the big three, and the a bit on Bukowski and Black Mountain and Miles Davis but not Brautigan and passes Whalen, Welch, Orlovsky et al with barely a nod. Snyder gets a little more but about the same as Miles Davis. Disappointing really.
Also too much focus on the big three, and the a bit on Bukowski and Black Mountain and Miles Davis but not Brautigan and passes Whalen, Welch, Orlovsky et al with barely a nod. Snyder gets a little more but about the same as Miles Davis. Disappointing really.
May 26, 2008
Like most coffee table books, this one had great pictures and mediocre text. There was nothing in this book that I didn't already know.
I'm ambivalent about the Beats. On one hand, the cultural ferment of the 1960s can be credited, in part, to the influence of the Beat writers and their contempories in the worlds of art and music. Punk rock was infused with a Beat ethic, as well. It's no coincidence that Allen Ginsberg appears on the Clash song "Ghetto Defendent". The Beats stretched and broke literary conventions, which led to new creative forms and energized literature, in general. Their influence on later writers is probably their most important contribution to the culture.
On the other hand, this same experimentation led to a lot of work that was unreadable. It has also given license to a lot of marginal writers and artists to produce dreck. Notoriously, Jack Kerouac derided the Beatniks (those who flocked to Greenwich Village to live the Beat lifestyle), whom he saw as neurotic posers.
The lifestyle of the Beats - the easy sex, the drug use and the drinking - is legendary. One wonders, though, whether it made them better writers. (I suspect not.) Reading the works of Jack Kerouac against the arc of his alcoholism, it's pretty easy to see the degradation of its quality.
The Beats violated Flaubert's maxim that a writer be radical in his work and disciplined in his life. For all their creative energy, I'd argue that only Allen Ginsberg and Kerouac achieved true greatness, and while Ginsberg was definitely a genius, Kerouac's output was uneven.
Still, there's no denying that the Beats were an important cultural force. However, there are better books out there about them.
I'm ambivalent about the Beats. On one hand, the cultural ferment of the 1960s can be credited, in part, to the influence of the Beat writers and their contempories in the worlds of art and music. Punk rock was infused with a Beat ethic, as well. It's no coincidence that Allen Ginsberg appears on the Clash song "Ghetto Defendent". The Beats stretched and broke literary conventions, which led to new creative forms and energized literature, in general. Their influence on later writers is probably their most important contribution to the culture.
On the other hand, this same experimentation led to a lot of work that was unreadable. It has also given license to a lot of marginal writers and artists to produce dreck. Notoriously, Jack Kerouac derided the Beatniks (those who flocked to Greenwich Village to live the Beat lifestyle), whom he saw as neurotic posers.
The lifestyle of the Beats - the easy sex, the drug use and the drinking - is legendary. One wonders, though, whether it made them better writers. (I suspect not.) Reading the works of Jack Kerouac against the arc of his alcoholism, it's pretty easy to see the degradation of its quality.
The Beats violated Flaubert's maxim that a writer be radical in his work and disciplined in his life. For all their creative energy, I'd argue that only Allen Ginsberg and Kerouac achieved true greatness, and while Ginsberg was definitely a genius, Kerouac's output was uneven.
Still, there's no denying that the Beats were an important cultural force. However, there are better books out there about them.
March 9, 2015
Mike Evans, the author of this thrilling volume, has a copy of Howl signed by Allen Ginsberg (1965) and includes considerable amount of text and pictures of this great American poet.
Moreover, there is much to do about Jack Kerouac--"spontaneous prose" of On The Road along with other writings.
Evans covers William Burroughs through Charles Bukowski in this large, detailed portrait of a cultural change that helped save me in the late 1950's--free association, jazz-like improvisation, and stream of consciousness delivery. Along with Lawrence Lipton Holy Barbarians (1959), The Beats... could get you through the night.
Moreover, there is much to do about Jack Kerouac--"spontaneous prose" of On The Road along with other writings.
Evans covers William Burroughs through Charles Bukowski in this large, detailed portrait of a cultural change that helped save me in the late 1950's--free association, jazz-like improvisation, and stream of consciousness delivery. Along with Lawrence Lipton Holy Barbarians (1959), The Beats... could get you through the night.
March 12, 2018
A good coffee table book on the Beats that I finally read a decade after buying. Photos are interesting, as is the text, though it probably could have benefited from better copyediting.
December 29, 2022
**read as part of my personal “authors A-Z” reading challenge**
November 16, 2025
Today, Sam Lobozzo would’ve turned 26.
I knew he loved Kerouac but researching Sam’s passions was never at the top of my to-do list.
This book was propped up on display near the poetry section of the library and I couldn’t help but pick it up. Physically, it’s an awkward size and the writing can get tedious to read but overall a decent anthology of beatnik members’ histories. Whether by choice or by chance, the Beat Generation’s dharma is the free-spirit’s guiding rhythm. Pleased to report that even whilst dead, Sam has his finger on life’s pulse.
You were one cool cat. Happy Birthday.
I knew he loved Kerouac but researching Sam’s passions was never at the top of my to-do list.
This book was propped up on display near the poetry section of the library and I couldn’t help but pick it up. Physically, it’s an awkward size and the writing can get tedious to read but overall a decent anthology of beatnik members’ histories. Whether by choice or by chance, the Beat Generation’s dharma is the free-spirit’s guiding rhythm. Pleased to report that even whilst dead, Sam has his finger on life’s pulse.
You were one cool cat. Happy Birthday.
May 1, 2016
Great book on all things Beat, from its beginnings in the early 1900s, through the century. I read it for research on a novel I'm writing, and found it chock-full of information. Key players, literary works, lifestyle, mindset, the meaning of "beatific," the whole influence of the beats on writing, dance, art, movies, and yes, fashion. Great black-and-white photographs. An in-depth chronology. A list of selected works from the beat writers. All good stuff.
April 25, 2009
Fascinating in-depth look at the lives of the original 'beats', especially Jack Kerouac and his immediate compatriots: Ginsberg, Burroughs, Cassady, Carr, Corso and others. Very informative, if speculative in some places, and a slightly choppy narrative in others, but most definitely an interesting read if you'd like to know more about the roots of the movement.
July 16, 2012
SUPERB!!
Too many times pictorial histories are nothing more than photography/art surrounded by vague text. In this case, I felt that Mike Evans (author) provided a in-depth look into the brilliance and creativity that these literary giants established in the face of McCarthyism & the Cold war. Highly recommended!
Too many times pictorial histories are nothing more than photography/art surrounded by vague text. In this case, I felt that Mike Evans (author) provided a in-depth look into the brilliance and creativity that these literary giants established in the face of McCarthyism & the Cold war. Highly recommended!
August 4, 2008
A good introduction to the Beat Movement. If you're familiar with the history, there's probably nothing new here for you, but it's a good overview. Nice photos. A lot I had seen before but also some I hadn't.
September 15, 2008
Great source of information for anyone who's curious about the lives and ideas of the Beat Generation participants.
June 25, 2008
Very comprehensive review of the beat authors, the musicians and culture contributing to this creative time period.
September 8, 2008
A fine introduction/overview of The Beats and their influence on the literary and cultural landscape of America (and beyond). Great pictures. Belongs on the coffee table. A conversation piece.
November 29, 2008
i learned lots. ktnx.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews