Beat Atlas: A State by State Guide to the Beat Generation in America - Softcover

Morgan, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0872865126 ISBN 13: 9780872865129

Publisher: City Lights Publishers, 2011

Synopsis

A companion to our guides to San Francisco and New York, Beat Atlas: A Guide to the Beat Generation in America is a state-by-state guide to the rest of the nation's significant Beat locales. From Jack Kerouac's Lowell to William Burroughs' Lawrence, Kansas, to Neal Cassady's Denver—and everywhere in between—Beat Atlas contains a wealth of historical information subdivided by region and state for easy reference and is illustrated with photographs by Allen Ginsberg. Written by Ginsberg biographer and Beat authority Bill Morgan, and rich with literary lore, Beat Atlas makes an ideal companion for armchair travelers as well as those "on the road."

About this title

About the Author

Bill Morgan (b.1949) is a painter and archival consultant who lives in New York City and Bennington, Vermont. He is the author of The Beat Generation in New York and The Beat Generation in San Francisco, I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg, and edited Deliberate Prose: Selected Essays of Allen Ginsberg, 1952-1995, as well as Ginsberg’s Book of Martyrdom and Artifice: First Journals and Poems, 1937-1952, and Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression.

Nancy Peters is the co-owner and past executive director of City Lights Books. She is the author of Literary San Francisco: A Pictorial History from its Origins to the Present Day (Harper, 1980).

Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), founding father of the Beat Generation, inspired the American counterculture of the second half of the twentieth century with his groundbreaking poems. His books include Howl & Other Poems, Kaddish & Other Poems, Reality Sandwiches, Planet News, Fall of American, Mind Breaths, and Plutonian Ode, all published by City Lights.

Review

"I absolutely love this book. It's quirky, interesting, and practical. This is a travel guide that you will pick up just to read, in addition to using it for finding Beat destinations to visit. Beat Atlas has my highest recommendation."—Rick Dale, The Daily Beat

"A decade ago, Beat Generation chronicler Morgan created a walking tour guide to Jack Kerouac's New York City. A couple of years later he did the same for San Francisco, tracking the haunts of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and their associates. With this new guide, Morgan has gone national, listing where the Beats lived, worked and traveled. That they managed to hit all the 48 contiguous states is no surprise, but some of the places are. Lincoln makes the list for Ginsberg's 1960s poetry reading visit, and Omaha, Grand Island and North Platte were all part of Kerouac's cross-country journeys recorded in "On The Road." For Beat aficionados, it's fascinating and fun."—L. Kent Wolgamott, Lincoln Star Journal

"A gold mine of information on the homes and haunts of the Beat Generation, this book will especially interest those who are already Beat enthusiasts."—Library Journal

"Whether you're a road-tested backpacker or just an armchair traveler, this guide, by archivist and author Bill Morgan, will lead you to noteworthy Beat locales in all 50 states, beyond Greenwich Village and North Beach, the main hubs for the post-WWII literary movement."—Newsday

Edition details

• Publisher: City Lights Publishers
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0872865126
• ISBN 13: 9780872865129
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 225