“Beat, in the sense of beaten, frustrated, played out...”

The reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco, “Howl”, “Go”, Neal, and “On the Road” - the Beat Generation! It's all in here, including interviews with some of the main players. Not a lot of new information for me, but a good overview. It reads more like a college text than anything else, and at times, I felt it was a bit dry. But it does contain some gems like:

“And if Allen Ginsberg was the Beat Generation’s Walt Whitman, then Gary Snyder was its Henry David Thoreau.” - I never made that connection, but I think it’s right on!

Anyway, it was an ok read, and if you are new to the topic, it might be even better than that. I will say, though this has nothing to do with the writing, I was surprised that there were no photographs! I think it's the first book about the Beats that I've ever read without them! A bit strange in their absence… ( )