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DESCRIPTION
The second volume in the acclaimed series that brings to life the groups of avant-garde writers, artists, and patrons who were keystones of what has come to be called Modernism, this book sheds new light on the hard-living, maverick poets and novelists—William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and others—who coalesced into the Beats.
REVIEWS
From Library Journal:
"In the second volume in the series "Circles of the Twentieth Century,"
devoted to avant-garde writers, Watson (The Harlem Renaissance,
Pantheon, 1995) traces the lives of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and
company from their initial meetings in New York to their rise to
literary fame. Watson also examines confluent movements like the San
Francisco renaissance and the Black Mountain School. Watson offers no
startling revelations, but he writes gracefully and has a gift for
synthesis. An innovative book design makes interesting use of the
margins for quotations, photos, and brief notes. This lively companion
to John Tytell's Naked Angels (LJ 4/15/76) belongs in most literature
collections.?William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
From Booklist:
"Watson's no-holds-barred chronicle of Beat writers is part of the
Circles of the Twentieth Century series, which is based on the belief
that artistic innovation arises out of "constellations" of creative
people. The theory is particularly appropriate when it comes to the
close, even intimate friendships among the primary figures of the Beat
movement: William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg, and
their icon and love object, the rapacious Neal Cassady. Watson juggles
the life stories of each of these driven fellows in his fluid
commentary, which is well supported by photographs, quotes, and
sidebars. We learn the pertinent facts about each man's childhood and
the winding paths that lead to their fertile, if turbulent
relationships, which were based on a shared passion for experimentation
with drugs, sexuality, and spontaneous literary expression. Watson
covers all their wild adventures, documents the feverish creation of
such galvanizing and influential works as On the Road, "Howl," and
Naked Lunch, and describes the widening of the Beat circle to include
such luminaries as Gary Snyder and Michael McClure. The Beats' fusion
of life, legend, and literature was gutsy, unique, and indelible, and
recognition of their importance continues to grow." Donna Seaman
From Echopraxia:
September 2002
"Fans of "On the Road" and the poetry, writings and
lifestyles of the "beat" era will find hours and hours of pleasure
reading and re-reading Steven Watson's brilliant and complete tour of
this important American movement. No coffee table should be without
this beautifully written and affectionately told history of a lost era.
This is a great resource for enthusiasts of the era and newcomers
alike, and is filled with some rare and wonderful black and white
photographs.
Watson (also a skillful and talented documentarian) has devoted his
life to capturing artists and literary figures. He reports the history
of these individuals with respect to the legends they were, but also
paints a very humanistic and intelligently unbiased, sensitive
portrait.
"The Birth of the Beat Generation" is a nice book that is a joy to
revisit. It entertains and educates and reminds us of a time when a new
kind of literary voice was born. Give this book as a gift or keep it by
your bedside. Better yet, keep it next to you in the front seat of your
car as you drive from coast to coast retracing the steps of the book's
literary heroes.
—Terry Osterhout
RESPONSES
By Far the Best
This is by far the best book about the Beats that I have read to date.
I really enjoyed the entire book. Its a quick read, has fun anecdotes,
quotes and definitions printed in the margins of every page, and
delivers a tremendous amount of information about the Beat Generation.
I was impressed by the amount of history covered for the main Beat
characters, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Carr, and Burroughs. I especially
enjoyed the in depth looks at their first meetings with one another and
the focus on what each one was reading during the early years. The
aforementioned writers are definitely the focus of this book, but there
is also a decent amount of time dedicated to minor characters involved
in the generation.
You really can't go wrong with this book, rather this will be your
first introduction to the Beats or your a veteran of Beat lore, you
will definitely gain something from reading this text. This book also
includes an awesome year to year run down of important events in the
Beat movement shown in correlation with important social and political
events of the time. If you enjoy this book you may want to check out
'Rolling Stone's Book of the Beats' also, another great addition to the
Beat fan's bookshelf.
A good book for so many reasons....
This is a great book for a number of reasons. I'm going to list a number
of them and then write a bit in conclusion.
1. It deals with many of the 'Beats' rather than focusing, as is
typical, on Kerouac and Ginsberg and forgetting the rest of them. It
provides an illuminating portrait of Burroughs (who is definately a key
figure), Neal Cassidy (who is also), and alot of the girls, etc. who
were around them. 2. It provides reading lists, etc. of what they were
reading. This is HUGE if you want to understand the bitterness/despair
that is found in Burroughs and Ginsberg... as well as insight into how
they interpretted their life and times (i.e. because they read these
books, they in a dialogic sense would interpret things along
such-and-such lines.... as a psychologist would interpret a 'vision of
God' one way and a believer a second.... 3. Lots of minutia/trivia that
is just fun.
It's a really good book and more stimulating than one would expect from
a book that is in the shape of a square. It would not suffice as a
literary biography of any of the authors contained in the 'movement'
nor could it supplant any social history book. But, it suppliments them
and is fun to read: sort of an academic version of 'Seventeen' at
points. I really love this book. I'd definately recommend this book to
anyone who wants to become first among their band of friends if all
their friends want to do is read a little bit of 'On the Road' and
'Howl' (and then think they know about this time period....
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