A collection of poems by one of the greatest literary and cultural figures of the 20th century.

Upon the release of his first published work, Howl and Other Poems, in 1956, Allen Ginsberg became the unlikely force of a movement that would change a generation. Literature, art, sex, love, family, politics; nothing would ever be the same. The Beat Generation was born through Ginsberg and his friends.

This collection of more than two dozen poems in verse and song is the best of the best, celebrating someone who was of his time, ahead of his time, and whose legacy will transcend time.

Included are:

"Howl," "Kaddish," "Pull My Daisy," "A Strange New Cottage in Berkeley," "A Supermarket in California," "Sunflower Sutra," "America," "Many Loves," "To Aunt Rose," "I am a Victim of Telephone," "Kral Majales," "Who Be Kind To," "City Midnight Junk Strains," "On Neal’s Ashes," "September on Jessore Road," "Mind Breaths," "Jahweh and Allah Battle," "Lay down Your Mountain," "Don’t Grow Old," "Father Death Blues," "Plutonian Ode," "White Shroud," "Sphincter," "Personals Ad," "Hum Bomb," "After Lalon," "Put Down Your Cigarette Don’t Smoke," "Charnal Ground," "C’mon Pigs of Western Civilization," "New Stanzas for Amazing Grace."

It's important to have a record of an author reading his own work, such as this 1995 performance of Ginsberg's selected works. The material is personal, political, hortatory, sexual, satirical, and for the most part, thoughtful, funny, or touching. But this performance is primarily for students or devotees of Ginsberg, who was not a great reader. His voice is more nasal than sonorous. At times, he declaims the poetry like a prophet, but at others he tends toward an amateurish-sounding singsong delivery. His singing is painful, even with musical and vocal backup. The program includes a badly proofread booklet of reprinted poems, songs, and "random thoughts." W.M. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

 

The Allen Ginsberg Poetry Collection by Allen Ginsberg
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