American Scream - Allen Ginsberg's Howl and the Making of the Beat Generation (Paperback, New Ed)

Written as a cultural weapon and a call to arms, "Howl "touched a raw nerve in Cold War America and has been controversial from the day it was first read aloud nearly fifty years ago. This first full critical and historical study of "Howl "brilliantly elucidates the nexus of politics and literature in which it was written and gives striking new portraits of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs. Drawing from newly released psychiatric reports on Ginsberg, from interviews with his psychiatrist, Dr. Philip Hicks, and from the poet's journals, "American Scream "shows how "Howl "brought Ginsberg and the world out of the closet of a repressive society. It also gives the first full accounting of the literary figuresOCoEliot, Rimbaud, and WhitmanOCowho influenced "Howl, "definitively placing it in the tradition of twentieth-century American poetry for the first time. As he follows the genesis and the evolution of "Howl, "Jonah Raskin constructs a vivid picture of a poet and an era. He illuminates the development of Beat poetry in New York and San Francisco in the 1950s--focusing on historic occasions such as the first reading of "Howl "at Six Gallery in San Francisco in 1955 and the obscenity trial over the poem's publication. He looks closely at Ginsberg's life, including his relationships with his parents, friends, and mentors, while he was writing the poem and uses this material to illuminate the themes of madness, nakedness, and secrecy that pervade "Howl."A captivating look at the cultural climate of the Cold War and at a great American poet, "American Scream "finally tells the full story of "Howl"OCoa rousing manifesto for a generation and a classic of twentieth-century literature."

General

Imprint:	University of California Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	February 2006
First published:	February 2006
Authors:	Jonah Raskin
Dimensions:	210 x 140 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	295
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-520-24677-5
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Poetry & poets > General Promotions
LSN:	0-520-24677-2
Barcode:	9780520246775

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!