I’ve watched “Kill Your Darlings” and I generally liked it, though it was a little odd. I have to confess – I found this movie thanks to Drarry videos – because the main character is portrayed by Daniel Radcliff, he has dark curly hair and wears glasses and (maybe a spoiler!) his partner (sort of) is blond so… Well, before that movie I knew exactly two things about Allen Ginsberg that he was a poet and that he was openly gay in the fifties, which is very tough. This movie turned out to be not actually about Allen Ginsberg, it’s more of a story of (Spoilers!) this murder in the park told through his eyes. I guess my problem is, that watching a story based on real events which you know nothing about and have to real Wikipedia afterwards is a little weird. But again – I liked it: the performance, the cut is very clever, for example when they are showing their drug-trips and mix them with reality, or when they started from the end. I also enjoyed learning at least something about the Beat Generation, because before I’ve only heard the name but never actually looked it up. So, a good movie, by the way showing again that Daniel Radcliff is definitely not stuck in Harry Potter role.
While I was in Memphis last year, I kept crossing paths with this dude Shelby. He was a driver and kept picking me up and taking me to different Gonerfest bars.
He had a lot of stories. He told me about doing various jobs at Denver venues years before. He had one particularly unsettling and salty George Clinton story that I don’t think is my place to relay here.
So Shelby tells me about a time when Allen Ginsberg was being honored at some big event in Denver. A bunch of local poets were reading their own work, and Shelby’s watching from backstage when this guy leans over to him and goes, “Hey, what do you think of this?”
Shelby: “I’m not a poet, so I don’t think it’s my place to say what I think.”
Guy: “No, you’ve got an opinion, let’s hear it, what do you think?”
Shelby: “Man, I think this is terrible. I mean here we are honoring Allen Ginsberg and we’re listening to this self-indulgent bullshit? Fuck that man, I’d rather hear from a real poet like Allen Ginsberg. They don’t make em like Allen Ginsberg anymore.”
So the guy agrees with Shelby and they carry on in conversation for a while. From the stage after a bit, they hear, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Allen Ginsberg.” The man turns to Shelby and goes, “Sorry, you’ll have to excuse me” and starts to walk onstage.
So then it clicks: “Holy shit, dude, you’re Allen Ginsberg!” With an impish grin, Ginsberg nods and walks onstage.
I liked this story, but I’m shocked that anyone would be familiar with Ginsberg’s work and not have any idea what he looks like. He’s an extremely recognizable guy, and come on, context clues, Shelby! He’s an old dude who’s engaging you about poetry backstage at the ALLEN GINSBERG event.
Sixth issue (of eight) of this important little magazine edited by LeRoi Jones. Contributors to this issue include Jones, Kenneth Koch, Frank O'Hara, John Ashberry, Gilbert Sorrentino, Diane DiPrima, Charles Olson, Allen Ginsberg, and Philip Whalen, et al.
New Arrivals: First, Limited Edition of Beat Bible: 2 Books in 1. Beat & Pieces + Beat Books [Limited Edition], compiled by Fernanda Pivano, with photographs by Allen Ginsberg.
Two volumes; oblong quartos (23.5x28.75cm.); original pictorial and decorative boards; in original wooden, steel-clasped box, original paper and styrofoam padding. Fine. Beat & Pieces is a photographic history of the Beat Movement; Beat Books is a bibliography of the Movement, covering the years 1944 to 1965.
❝ Peyote solidities of halls, backyard green tree cemetery dawns, wine drunkenness over the rooftops, storefront boroughs of teahead joyride neon blinking traffic light, sun and moon and tree vibrations in the roaring winter dusks of Brooklyn, ashcan rantings and kind king light of mind…”
Beat poetry evolved during the 1940s in both New York City and on the west coast, although San Francisco became the heart of the movement in the early 1950s. The end of World War II left poets like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso questioning mainstream politics and culture. These poets would become known as the Beat generation, a group of writers interested in changing consciousness and defying conventional writing. The Beats were also closely intertwined with poets of the San Francisco Renaissance movement, such as Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan.
The battle against social conformity and literary tradition was central to the work of the Beats. Among this group of poets, hallucinogenic drugs were used to achieve higher consciousness, as was meditation and Eastern religion. Buddhism especially was important to many of the Beat poets; Snyder and Ginsberg both intensely studied this religion and it figured into much of their work.
Ginsberg’s first book, Howl and Other Poems, is often considered representative of the Beat poets. In 1956 Ferlinghetti’s press City Lights published Howl and Ferlinghetti was brought to trial the next year on charges of obscenity. In a hugely publicized case, the judge ruled that Howl was not obscene and brought national attention to Ginsberg and the Beat poets. [more] [+“howl” by allen ginsberg]
![ironvictory:literature meme | two movements [2/2] | beat poetryBeat poetry evolved during the 19](https://64.media.tumblr.com/65c30caf8b646076abefe7832b1f9ec6/tumblr_nhg7u9vlmL1qlmex0o1_500.png "ironvictory:literature meme | two movements [2/2] | beat poetryBeat poetry evolved during the 19")
![ironvictory:literature meme | two movements [2/2] | beat poetryBeat poetry evolved during the 19](https://64.media.tumblr.com/4856b9028fe270f0626fb8bb5944c900/tumblr_nhg7u9vlmL1qlmex0o2_500.png "ironvictory:literature meme | two movements [2/2] | beat poetryBeat poetry evolved during the 19")
