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| | Issue #19.48 :: 06/25/2008 - 07/01/2008 | "The Letters of Allen Ginsberg"
By Bill Morgan and Allen GInsberg
| BY J. EDWARD SUMERAU
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"The Letters of Allen Ginsberg"
By Bill Morgan and Allen Ginsberg
Available Sept. 1
AUGUSTA, GA - Eloquent, fascinating, and explosive are all words that could be used to describe the work of Allen Ginsberg, but beyond any simple compliment that can be adorned lies the raw spirit of intellectual curiosity within his words and compositions in this life. In a stunning display of the mind at work, Bill Morgan has put together a fantastic collection of insight in the form of “The Letters of Allen Ginsberg.”
Bill Morgan may well be best known for his relationship with Ginsberg throughout the years. His archivist for many years, Morgan published his own biography of Ginsberg entitled “I Celebrate Myself: the Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg” and a collection of Ginsberg’s early journals entitled “The Book of Martyrdom and Artifice” in recent memory. A talented editor with firsthand knowledge of the subject, Morgan is able to craft a fascinating journey through the mind of one of the world’s best poetical voices in this volume.
Allen Ginsberg is a tough subject to settle upon lightly in the first place. Many readers will remember the power of “Howl” being read aloud or flying off a page in a youthful exposure to out-of-the-box thinking, and others will acknowledge his place in literary history as the confidant to such names as Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. Whatever the context, Ginsberg’s name is synonymous with a powerful expression of American literary history, and in the course of this collection, some of his more private discussions are taken up for the sake of posterity.
Throughout the book, readers will run into literary and artistic names of merit, and in so doing, may begin to observe the impact of this man in the creative world of the not so distant past. Containing letters sent to Bob Dylan, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, e.e. cummings, William S. Burroughs, Timothy Leary and Duke Cunningham, this is a collection of history spread out within the framework of letter writing. Alongside such stars, Ginsberg also found time to comment on society in letters to Ed Koch and Bill Clinton among others, and could be found expressing his concerns to newspapers from The New York Times to The Wichita Beacon. Throughout the compositions, the clarity and articulation of issues showcased by Ginsberg can be an intriguing ride through a divergent vision of the American landscape complete with scars and beauty lining a world of constant gray between absolutes.
Crafted with supreme care, organized under a chronological format, and placed together in a series of thrusts from the mind of a master thinker now gone, this collection of letters serves as a collective howl into the cognitive recesses within the open-minded free thinkers of today.
Available on September 1, 2008 nationwide, “The Letters of Allen Ginsberg” provide a pathway to the private mind of a master thinker compelled to dissect the intricacies of language and social concern throughout life.
Morgan, Bill and Allen Ginsberg. “The Letters of Allen Ginsberg.” Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Books (A member of the Perseus Book Group). 2008. 446pp. $30.00 Hardback. ISBN: 9780306814631.
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