=========================================================================

Date:         Mon, 1 Jan 1996 11:37:24 -0800

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Levi Asher <brooklyn@NETCOM.COM>

Subject:      Re: Birth of the Beat Generation

In-Reply-To:  <951231201656_81734192@emout06.mail.aol.com> from "W. Luther

              Jett" at Dec 31, 95 08:16:56 pm

 

> Today's Washington Post carries a very favourable review of a new book, "The

> Birth of the Beat Generation: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters 1844-1960",

> by Steven Watson (Pantheon). I quote, in part, from the review:

>

> "An elegant coffee-table book, 'The Birth of the Beat Generation' juxtaposes

> arresting, seldom-seen photographs with a lively, engaging, bare-bones

> narrative. It also juxtaposes maps both geographic and interrelational with

> assorted marginalia: quips, booklists and beat argot. . . . Not since

> Lawrence Lipson's 'Holy Barbarians' of 1959 has there been a book of the Beat

> experience whole, even though various biographies have in varying degree

> mined the details. . . . Oddly, what is wanting, a true assessment, does not

> diminish this book's achievement . . . ."

>

> So, has anyone seen the book? How accurate is the reviewer's assessment?

 

I pretty much agree.  The book is very nicely designed and has a lot of

illustrations.  The text seems accurate.  More of a sense of spontaneity and

random connections than in other, more traditional books of this type.

 

One thing I haven't seen yet is Voyager's new Beat Experience CD-Rom, or

whatever it's called.  Not the Kerouac one (from Viking) but the one that

ties into the Whitney exhibit (I think).  Any reports on it?

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

                   Levi Asher = brooklyn@netcom.com

 

           Literary Kicks: http://www.charm.net/~brooklyn/

                    (the beat literature web site)

 

         Queensboro Ballads: http://www.levity.com/brooklyn/

                     (my fantasy folk-rock album)

 

                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

                  "Some people like to go out dancing,

               but other people like us, they gotta work

                   And there's even some evil mothers

             who'll tell you life is just made out of dirt

                     That women never really faint

                 that villains always blink their eyes

               That children are the only ones who blush

                     and that life is just a dive"

                              -- Velvet Underground, "Sweet Jane"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

=========================================================================

Date:         Tue, 2 Jan 1996 09:41:20 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Howard Park <Hpark4@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: Birth of the Beat Generation

 

The reviewer, Regina Weinreich, is a real beat fan and author of "The

Spontanious Prose of Jack Kerouac", so it's not surprising that she wrote a

favorable review of the "Brith of the Beat Generation."  I don't mean to

discount it.  It's an excellent book.  Part group biography, part scrapbook.

 It's more than a "coffeetable book".

 

Howard Park

=========================================================================

Date:         Tue, 2 Jan 1996 09:41:21 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Howard Park <Hpark4@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: Whitney Show

 

I wrote a sort of review of thw Whitney show awhile back.  I enjoyed and was

captivated by it, but I don't think I would make a special trip to New York

for it alone.  It will travel to Minneapolis and San Francisco later this

year.  The highlight of the show for me was the original rolled up manuscript

of On The Road and the Dharma Bums.

 

H. Park

=========================================================================

Date:         Tue, 2 Jan 1996 12:08:11 -0600

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Nick Weir-Williams <nweir-w@NWU.EDU>

Subject:      Re: BEAT-L Digest - 30 Dec 1995 to 31 Dec 1995

 

Have just got back from a week in NYC with 2500 philosophers, and got to see

the Whitney exhibit. For me, there was some great stuff there - a lot of

JK's original artwork, the teletype roll of OTR, a bunch of his notebooks,

sketchpads etc, and a lot of photos of NYC and Beats around there, including

quite a few I'd never seen in books. I can see why the art critics were down

on the exhibit though, because the link between the big pieces on display

and the Beats seemed tentative to say the least, i.e. the Jackson Pollock

painting and some of the other art - nice stuff in its own right (most of

it) but out of kilter with the rest of the exhibit. Still, there was so much

of the real thing there I didn't mind. A most interesting video on show

(plus for sale, a copy of which I got) with all sorts of

JK/Ginsberg/Burroughs clips, weird art montages and some really cool jazz

from the period with Miles and Coltrane and so on. And a great audio track

which you could listen to at the exhibit (but I couldn't see for sale) with

readings, jazz, etc.

 

So I think you have to be a True Fan, but then I guess most all of us on

this list are ... it was well worth the trip and the $$$ to see the artefacts.

 

N W-W

 

 

 

>

>I have heard about and read a little about the current exhibit at the

>Whitney Museum in New York.  Has this exhibit been discussed by fellows

>on the net?  What is of particular interest?  What special performances

>have been included, who has seen them, and what reports can be given?

>

>I've ordered the catalog from the museum and have a standing order for

>the CD-ROM.  I hope that I have made the right choice in getting these

>items.  I would like to fly into New York and see the actual exhibit, but

>time and $ weigh on my mind and wallet, making me choose the lest costly,

>more ordinary alternatives.

>

>So let me know.  Who has seen the show?  Whither goest thou, Whitney, in thy

>shiny black car in the night?

>

>

>

>

>

>Bill of the North Woods

>

>------------------------------

>

=========================================================================

Date:         Tue, 2 Jan 1996 10:56:55 -0800

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "Timothy K. Gallaher" <gallaher@HSC.USC.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Birth of the Beat Generation

 

>The reviewer, Regina Weinreich, is a real beat fan and author of "The

>Spontanious Prose of Jack Kerouac", so it's not surprising that she wrote a

>favorable review of the "Brith of the Beat Generation."  I don't mean to

>discount it.  It's an excellent book.  Part group biography, part scrapbook.

> It's more than a "coffeetable book".

>

>Howard Park

 

 

The book is actually called

The Spontaneous Poetics of Jack Kerouac.  Poetics, not prose--I say this

only if someone goes out looking for it and tries to order it at a

bookstore or something.

=========================================================================

Date:         Tue, 2 Jan 1996 20:10:50 GMT

Reply-To:     Dan_Barth@RedwoodFN.org

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Dan Barth <Dan_Barth@REDWOODFN.ORG>

Organization: Redwood Free-Net

Subject:      Re: Birth of the Beat Generation

 

Hi Everybody and HAPPY NEW YEAR. I've seen *Birth of the BG* in the bookstores

and was first of all struck by the similarity in layout to *Generation X*. I

notice that Herbert Huncke is deemd an "icon" as is Ginsberg's buddy from the

mental hospital, Carl Solomon. To me these guys are minor characters and the

real icons are Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Cassady. Quibble, quibble. I

still would like a copy of the book but at $27.50 I'll have to wait. I did

receive *Big Sky Mind: Buddhism and the BG* for a Chritmas present. I'm happy

with it, reading the Kerouac section at the moment, though again I have a few

quibbles with the Introduction by a professor of philosophy who does not have

me convinced about his knowledge of the Beats.

 

Best to you all.

 

Dan B.

=========================================================================

Date:         Tue, 2 Jan 1996 20:10:50 GMT

Reply-To:     Dan_Barth@RedwoodFN.org

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Dan Barth <Dan_Barth@REDWOODFN.ORG>

Organization: Redwood Free-Net

Subject:      Re: Birth of the Beat Generation

 

Hi Everybody and HAPPY NEW YEAR. I've seen *Birth of the BG* in the bookstores

and was first of all struck by the similarity in layout to *Generation X*. I

notice that Herbert Huncke is deemd an "icon" as is Ginsberg's buddy from the

mental hospital, Carl Solomon. To me these guys are minor characters and the

real icons are Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Cassady. Quibble, quibble. I

still would like a copy of the book but at $27.50 I'll have to wait. I did

receive *Big Sky Mind: Buddhism and the BG* for a Chritmas present. I'm happy

with it, reading the Kerouac section at the moment, though again I have a few

quibbles with the Introduction by a professor of philosophy who does not have

me convinced about his knowledge of the Beats.

 

Best to you all.

 

Dan B.

 

P.S.  I think Regina Weinreich's book is very worthwhile. She was quite

prescient in her Introduction, c. 1987, in saying "there's a Kerouac industry

out there."

=========================================================================

Date:         Tue, 2 Jan 1996 16:29:11 EST

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject:      Re: Birth of the Beat Generation

In-Reply-To:  Message of Sun, 31 Dec 1995 20:16:56 -0500 from

              <MagenDror@AOL.COM>

 

Watson's book is interesting, particularly in terms of its novative

design.  He makes good use of the margins for notes, photos, and

quotations.  I wrote a review for Library Journal, which I haven't yet

seen in print.  There's an interesting review in the November 1

Booklist, p. 449.  Watson also did part of the Whitney catalog and is

scheduled to speak, I believe, at a conference at the New School for

Social Research in New York City.  Details are in the Whitney monthly

calendar which I haven't got with me at this time.

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 11:02:31 +0800

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Frank Stevenson <t22001@CC.NTNU.EDU.TW>

Subject:      Re: Baraka

In-Reply-To:  <9512031818.AA14023@cabell.VCU.EDU>

 

   I heard/saw ginsberg and his "wife" orlovsky read at haverford college

in 1965 or '66--pretty crazy, very radical, advocating free sex and drugs

and attacking govt's stand on vietnam war, etc.....paul breslin in

"psycho-political muse" claims ginsberg and other voices of "new american

poetry" of late 50's/60's (including levertov, olson, wright) are not

original at all but mouthing the cultural discourse of early 50's

"conformity criticism" and neo-freudianism (including marcuse, laing et

al) with background in marx, nietzsche, existentialism and (well,

yes) FREUD, the BIG mr. brainwash for me as little kid in 50's)....THEN i

heard leroi jones (= now BARAKA, right?) read at tuskegee institute, alabama

where i taught english in 1969 and him say to the largely black audience

(me and a few other instructors being paranoid white "honkeys from new york"):

 "WE WANT BLACK POWER....don't let these honkeys from new york brainwash you

with their crap about sick existentialist jews from vianna"....

 (his exact words i think).....hmmm, food for thought here.....fws

    (but i still can dig jones/baraka's "preface to a 20-vol. suicide note")

 

On Sun, 3 Dec 1995, Kirsten A. Hirsch wrote:

 

> I saw Baraka read last year in Richmond, VA and was not all that impressed. I

> think the reading was tainted by the write up in the program which stressed

> that he had "denounced" the beats and was born again into his African-

> American heritage and that he was not the same man who married a white woman

> (which he did) in the 1950's.

>

> I just don't understand why he had to throw the entire part of his life that

> was "beat" out the window in order to appreciate his heritage. I found that

> very disappointing.

>

> Kirsten

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 00:15:12 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         The Guelph Peak <peak@UOGUELPH.CA>

Subject:      naropa institute/kerouac school of disembodied poetics

In-Reply-To:  <Pine.HPP.3.91.960102233822.6308B-100000@ccshst08.cs.uoguelph.ca>

 

I've been having a rough time trying to find information regarding the

naropa institute & the school of poetics (the former of which I

understand is part of the latter):  there is nominally a page for the

institute, but it has absolutely nothing on it other than a link to a

journal from '94 regarding a visit to a gathering at the school.  I'm

very curious about this school:  if anyone knows how I can find out all

about it, help would be much appreciated.

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Paul Reeve at

da PEAK                                 email: peak@uoguelph.ca

Guelph's Student Magazine               phone: (519)824-4120 x8522

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 09:06:41 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "Kirsten A. Hirsch"

              <Kirsten=A.=Hirsch%Commons%USC@COMNET.USC.VCU.EDU>

Subject:      Christmas gifts

 

My family was very kind this year. I got the CDRomnibus (which was special

ordered from Olson Books in Washington DC) and the Beat Generation cds from

Rhino.

 

I've had fun with the Romnibus. Wish there was more video and sound. Some of

the "video" attached to readings is simply a still image and that is a bit of

a let down. If they were going to do something, they should have had clips

from PULL MY DAISY etc.

 

THe Rhino cds are interesting. Understanding the difference between BEAT and

BEATNIK is important though. If you do, it's very entertaining.

 

Whoever suggested writing to Waterow Books, I did and they sent me a great

catalog. Apparently, sometime this year there will be a Beat Generation CD-

ROM similar to the Kerouac one available through Waterow (and other sources I

am sure).

 

-Kirsten Hirsch

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 10:21:36 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Howard Park <Hpark4@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: Baraka

 

I don't defend Baraka.  I do respect him.  Every man's life is his own, if he

wants to reject part of it, its his to do.  "Believe it if you need it, if

you don't then pass it on."

 

Howard Park

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 08:54:46 -0800

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "Timothy K. Gallaher" <gallaher@HSC.USC.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Christmas gifts

 

>THe Rhino cds are interesting. Understanding the difference between BEAT and

>BEATNIK is important though. If you do, it's very entertaining.

>

What do you mean here, Kirsten?  Why do the Rhino CD's elicit this comment?

 

Tim

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 11:47:59 -0800

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "Timothy K. Gallaher" <gallaher@HSC.USC.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Rhino CD's

Comments: To: Kirsten=A.=Hirsch%Commons%USC@comnet.usc.vcu.edu

 

At 01:50 PM 1/3/96 EST, you wrote:

>IMO, the "beatnik" movement, if you will, was partly an exploitation of the

>BEAT literature movement. The term "beatnik" was coined in a newspaper

>article refering to any person who wore a beret and sandals and generally

>"loafed". From what I understand, the "nik" was added to the end of beat as a

>joke, refering to the new and popular fifties term "sputnik".

>

>Granted, there was good work,etc. that came from the "beatnik" era and it was

>a precursor to the "hippie" movement of the 60's. However, IMO, a lot of the

>beatnik material on the Rhino CD's is mocking the "beat" movement.

>

>I look at it as compared to the term "grunge" or "slacker". Grunge is a style

>of music, whereas if you are "grunge" you are a "slacker" but not necessarily

>a musician. It's just my way of putting it into perspective.

>

>I think the original article that coined "beatnik" is on Levi's LIT KICKS web

>page.

>

>-Kirsten Hirsch

>

Yeah.  I know what you mean.  beatnik conjures up images of people in black

turtlenecks, dark glasses and black berets snapping there fingers and saying

daddy-o.

 

I guess I don't know what Rhino CD you are talking about.  The kerouac

collection is put out by Rhino and I thought you were talking about that.

Is there some sort of Rhino beatnik CD?

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 14:58:24 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         William Miller <KenofWNC@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Big Sky Mind

 

Hello everyone

 

I hope you had a most safe, enjoyable, and respectable new year.

 

In a recent post, Dan Barth wrote:

 

%%

 

I did receive *Big Sky Mind: Buddhism and the BG* for a Chritmas present. I'm

happy with it, reading the Kerouac section at the moment, though again I have

a few

quibbles with the Introduction by a professor of philosophy who does not have

me convinced about his knowledge of the Beats.

 

%%

 

I picked the book up about 2 months ago and found it to be a good "alternate"

sort of anthology, not the general sort of anthology that The Beat Reader

tries to be.  I find little new except the general thread of "seeker" along

the Beat-Buddhism axis....

 

I'd like to read some more impressions of _Big Sky Mind_.

 

BTW, _Big Sky Mind_, a "Tricycle Book", leads me to the magazine "Tricycle",

published quarterly, which includes pieces on the beats sometimes,

Kerouac&buddhism, AllenG&buddhism, et cetera.

 

Regards,

 

William Miller

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 16:26:37 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "Ritter, Chris D" <rittec@UH2297P01.DAYTONOH.ATTGIS.COM>

Subject:      Re: naropa institute/kerouac school of disembodied poetics

Comments: To: "BEAT-L%CUNYVM.BITNET" <BEAT-L%CUNYVM.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu>

 

>I've been having a rough time trying to find information regarding the

>naropa institute & the school of poetics (the former of which I

>understand is part of the latter):  there is nominally a page for the

>institute, but it has absolutely nothing on it other than a link to a

>journal from '94 regarding a visit to a gathering at the school.  I'm

>very curious about this school:  if anyone knows how I can find out all

>about it, help would be much appreciated.

 

I'd also appreciate this information.. I'll be grad. next year and would

like to know if it is worth going for a Masters there..

 

                                                                 ..Critter

=========================================================================

Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 17:11:11 EST

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject:      Re: naropa institute/kerouac school of disembodied poetics

In-Reply-To:  Message of Wed, 3 Jan 1996 16:26:37 -0500 from

              <rittec@UH2297P01.DAYTONOH.ATTGIS.COM>

 

The College Handbook lists the current information on Naropa:  Naropa Institute

, 2130 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO   80302.  Telephone: 303-444-0202.  An M.A.

as well as MFA is offered.

=========================================================================

Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 12:26:22 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         William S Schofield <wss@SAS.UPENN.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Baraka

In-Reply-To:  <960103102135_83042145@emout04.mail.aol.com> from "Howard Park"

              at Jan 3, 96 10:21:36 am

 

About baraka:

 

i recently saw him read from his new collection of poems "transbluency"

at the borders in phila. -- the man's message is loud and clear and it is

unfortunate that so many just label him a racist and dismiss him --

besides the serious and DAMNING political bashing (surely deserved in my

book) in his poetry, he also calls for his people to lay the foundations

for a cultural base, something that is true and that will not be brushed

away as a fad -- the fact that i am white did not diminish the urgency of

his message -- the reading and the discussion afterwards were incredibly

inspiring for me -- baraka's eyes are WIDE open and his political message

(he is now a third-world socialist and very active in demonstrations

around the world) and all the implications it carries causes alot of

people to turn away in fear/blindness or whatever --(by the way, baraka

denounced his early nationalism long ago) -- i look at baraka's voice as

a vital one and a simple reading of his poetry i think warrants this --

 

baraka made some comments on the beats -- he explained that they were

never united except in the sense that they were all working towards a

break-down of language -- he said that he and ginsberg are/were good

friends but that he disagrees with 99.9 percent of what ginsberg says --

he mentioned reading 'howl' for the first time while in the navy and

writing to ginsberg asking him if he was "really for real"-- baraka

generally doesn't see himself as a member of that group and wonders why

he is so often lumped into it -- he also told everyone to check out bob

kaufmann if they really wanted to know where alot of what is considered

"beat' "came from" --

 

this comment interests me and i was wondering why kaufman poetry is so

hard to obtain -- reading his "ancient rain poems" i was struck by HOW

GOOD HE IS -- why is this man so often ignored -- he did say shortly

before he died that he wanted to be anonymous, but it is amazing to me

that we could let such a good poet get buried in the shade of lesser

talents -- he is the original jazz poet -- has anyone found any

recordings of kaufman --

 

also, since this is the first time i'm contributing to this list(although

i've been reading all the mail for about a month), my BIG question is

"WHO HAS A COPY OF 'Mishaps,Perhaps" by Solomon" -- can it actually be

found, CAN IT? -- can we convince ferlinghetti to reissue it, can we

threaten him? -- what about Lamantia poetry, the only 'beat' embraced by

andre breton himself as a liberated soul -- is 'meadowlark west' all that

is left of this amazing poet?

 

will

wss.mail.sas.upenn.edu

=========================================================================

Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 13:53:37 EST

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         CLAY VAUGHAN <CLV100U@MOZART.FPA.ODU.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Baraka

Comments: To: William S Schofield <wss@SAS.UPENN.EDU>,

          "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L%CUNYVM.BITNET@oduvm.cc.odu.edu>

 

> Date sent:      Thu, 4 Jan 1996 12:26:22 -0500

> Send reply to:  "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

> From:           William S Schofield <wss@SAS.UPENN.EDU>

> Subject:        Re: Baraka

> To:             Multiple recipients of list BEAT-L <BEAT-L@CUNYV

 

 

William Schofield wrote:

 

> i was wondering why kaufman poetry is so

> hard to obtain -- reading his "ancient rain poems" i was struck by HOW

> GOOD HE IS -- why is this man so often ignored -- he did say shortly

> before he died that he wanted to be anonymous, but it is amazing to me

> that we could let such a good poet get buried in the shade of lesser

> talents -- he is the original jazz poet -- has anyone found any

> recordings of kaufman --

 

Yeah, you're right, it's pretty sad about Bob Kaufman, his work was

that great. Even GOLDEN SARDINE, I think, is out of print now, though

the newly published CITY LIGHTS POCKET POETS ANTHOLOGY (a terrific

anthology!) has a coupla poems from GOLDEN SARDINE.

 

But there will be published this year, if it has not been already,

this book: CRANIAL GUITAR: SELECTED POEMS, by Bob Kaufman! It's

published by Coffee House Press, in Minneapolis. I went on-line to

see who might own this, and only the Library of Congress has a record

of it right now.

 

Recordings, though, when I tried to locate anything through the

Library of Congress, nothing showed, and so there's probably nothing

commercial, at least.

 

 

> also, since this is the first time i'm contributing to this list(although

> i've been reading all the mail for about a month), my BIG question is

> "WHO HAS A COPY OF 'Mishaps,Perhaps" by Solomon" -- can it actually be

> found, CAN IT? -- can we convince ferlinghetti to reissue it, can we

> threaten him? -- what about Lamantia poetry, the only 'beat' embraced by

> andre breton himself as a liberated soul -- is 'meadowlark west' all that

> is left of this amazing poet

 

 

I think the Solomon stuff is out of print now, all of it, though in

1989 he published his memoirs, called EMERGENCY MESSAGES: AN

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MISCELLANEY, through Paragon, the same folks who did

Huncke's GUILTY OF EVERYTHING.

=========================================================================

Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 13:58:24 EST

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         CLAY VAUGHAN <CLV100U@MOZART.FPA.ODU.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Baraka

Comments: To: William S Schofield <wss@SAS.UPENN.EDU>,

          "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L%CUNYVM.BITNET@oduvm.cc.odu.edu>

 

A quick addendum:

 

I don't know if I mentioned it, but a sequel of sorts was printed

after Carl Solomon's MISHAPS, PERHAPS, called MORE MISHAPS. I was

lucky enough to find copies of these a long time ago. And it's funny

looking at what the Library of Congress sees as among its official

subject headings: "Psychiatric Hospital Patients--United States--

Biography"  !!!!!

=========================================================================

Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 14:11:17 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Jim Stedman <jstedman@NMU.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Baraka

 

>About baraka:

Will --  I had a copy of Mishaps, which I picked up at a used bookstore up

here in the snowy UP of Michigan. I eventually gifted-it away. I don't

rmember it as being a City Lights publication, though. I've been wrong

before, but there's a first time for everything!

Cheers,

Jim

=========================================================================

Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 23:41:32 +0100

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Michael Thorn <mthorn@FASTNET.CO.UK>

Subject:      Kerouac's Letters

 

I've had this book for a couple of months, and am reading

it real slow, one letter at a time, every few days.

Still on page 65, having finished a moving letter from Mom

(not Memere - she signs herself Mom) distraught at Jack's

attitude towards the navy.

Anyone else at a similar point?

 

Michael

mthorn@fastnet.co.uk

=========================================================================

Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 19:44:43 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "W. Luther Jett" <MagenDror@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: Carl Solomon (Was re: Baraka)

 

There are two brief excerpts from "Mishaps, Perhaps" in the Penguin "Portable

Beat Reader" (1992). According to the acknowledgements therein, the book

*was* published by City Lights and is copyrighted 1966  by Carl Solomon.

 

Luther Jett

=========================================================================

Date:         Fri, 5 Jan 1996 10:15:11 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         William Miller <KenofWNC@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: Baraka

 

Hello again folks.

 

William Miller here.

 

In a message dated 96-01-04 14:26:19 EST, Clay Vaughn writes:

 

>I don't know if I mentioned it, but a sequel of sorts was printed

>after Carl Solomon's MISHAPS, PERHAPS, called MORE MISHAPS. I was

>lucky enough to find copies of these a long time ago. And it's funny

>looking at what the Library of Congress sees as among its official

>subject headings: "Psychiatric Hospital Patients--United States--

>Biography"  !!!!!

 

A humorous side note is in order here:  William Burroughs' _The Cat Inside_

is listed under "Pet Owners--United States--Biography" -----------

 

Sincerely,

 

William

=========================================================================

Date:         Fri, 5 Jan 1996 07:34:08 -0800

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Levi Asher <brooklyn@NETCOM.COM>

Subject:      Interview with Neal Cassady's son

In-Reply-To:  <960105101510_32523505@mail06.mail.aol.com> from "William Miller"

              at Jan 5, 96 10:15:11 am

 

I just put a fairly extensive interview with John Cassady, Neal's 43-year-old

son, up on my web site.   I think it turned out pretty interesting ... the

direct URL is http://www.charm.net/~brooklyn/JCI/JCInterview.html, or you

can just go in thru my Beat News or Neal Cassady pages.

 

Happy New Year everyone.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

                   Levi Asher = brooklyn@netcom.com

 

           Literary Kicks: http://www.charm.net/~brooklyn/

                    (the beat literature web site)

 

         Queensboro Ballads: http://www.levity.com/brooklyn/

                     (my fantasy folk-rock album)

 

                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

                  "Some people like to go out dancing,

               but other people like us, they gotta work

                   And there's even some evil mothers

             who'll tell you life is just made out of dirt

                     That women never really faint

                 that villains always blink their eyes

               That children are the only ones who blush

                     and that life is just a dive"

                              -- Velvet Underground, "Sweet Jane"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

=========================================================================

Date:         Fri, 5 Jan 1996 12:57:40 EST

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         mARK hEMENWAY <mhemenway@S1.DRC.COM>

Subject:      Unpublished Kerouac

 

The Fall 1995 issue of <<DHARMA beat>> magazine includes an unpublished

story by Jack Kerouac, titled "My Sunset Birth."  This issue also

includes:

 

        o Study of Kerouac's spirituality,

        o Description of the beat exhibit at the Whitney,

        o Photo essay of Kerouac sites in San Francisco,

        o Review of selected Kerouac archives, and

        o Other reviews, info and stuff on Kerouac and beat activites and

          resources.

 

<<DHARMA beat>>, is published twice a year by the non-profit Jack Kerouac

Subterrnaean Information Society. It is dedicated to getting the word out

on Kerouac activities, publications and organizations.

 

Available from: The Jack Kerouac subterranean Information Society, Box

1753, Lowell, MA 01853-1753, USA. RATES: Sample $2.00, Subscription (2)

issues 5.00 US per year (Foreign $7.00 US). Hardcopy only.

 

Thanks.

 

Mark Hemenway

Attila Gyenis

Editors

=========================================================================

Date:         Fri, 5 Jan 1996 13:07:38 EST

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         mARK hEMENWAY <mhemenway@S1.DRC.COM>

Subject:      Keroauc/beat events

 

We're starting to get the Spring 1996 issue of <<DHARMA beat>> magazine

together. If anyone is planning or knows of Kerouac or beat events,

organizations, activities, clubs, etc. we would be happy to publish that

information for you.

 

Send who, what, when, where and how much (if appropriate) to me at this

address or snail mail to the Jack Kerouac subterranean Information

Society, BOX 1753, Lowell, MA 01853-1753.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark Hemenway

Co-editor

mhemenway@s1.drc.com

=========================================================================

Date:         Fri, 5 Jan 1996 15:10:45 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "Kris L. Dolberg" <GreenTramp@AOL.COM>

Subject:      filler: I win!!!  :)

 

I WIN!!!   :)

 

I hurt you?

Good, that was my intention

You will remember your first time

And I took it from you

But my purpose was planned

You fell in my trap

You treated me wrong

You disrespected me

You lied

You snuck around

And thought I'd be there always

Like a doll

You can play with me when you want

And then drop me

And when you come back I'll be ready and willing

I ain't like that

And I got my revenge

I taught you a lesson

You'll never forget me

And maybe next time you'll show your woman some respect

 

 

                                    -Zoe LD

=========================================================================

Date:         Fri, 5 Jan 1996 15:27:45 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "Kris L. Dolberg" <GreenTramp@AOL.COM>

Subject:      filler: Father, just remember.

 

FATHER, JUST REMEMBER

 

You're so sweet

If only you could remember

You have a daughter

The one that's sitting beside you

The one that's always there

You know I'm here

You do care

but your blinded

You confuse me

You ignore me and blow me off

Then you turn around and act like I'm all you have

I know you care

Just remember

Please don't ever forget me, father

 

 

                                   -Zoe LD

=========================================================================

Date:         Fri, 5 Jan 1996 15:45:29 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         "Kris L. Dolberg" <GreenTramp@AOL.COM>

Subject:      filler: Love's Pain

 

LOVE'S PAIN

 

You say it's bad to not love

But look at the pain you're in

It's because of love

The tears that flow endlessly

It's because of love

I don't love

I don't care

I'm happy

Look at me

I don't feel love's pain

Maybe I'll love later

I don't have time now

 

 

                                 -Zoe LD

=========================================================================

Date:         Fri, 5 Jan 1996 22:02:04 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Ted Pelton <Notlep@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: BEAT-L Digest - 1 Jan 1996 to 2 Jan 1996

 

Scattered responses to list topics:

 

Regina Weinreich's book on "poetics" not "prose": a good distinction:

"poetics" is a word that can link Kerouac with other theorists of "making"

(Greek poesis) literary works in late 20th C (I think of poet Charles Olson,

whose "field" approach has a lot of similarity with Kerouac's improvs).  I

used the word too in my the title of my dissertation on Herman Melville to

talk about his theories of making texts as well -- it has some currency in

lit crit these days to describe prose writers' as well as poets' acts of

making.

 

 

Howard, do you know when the Beat show will be in Minneapolis?

 

 

On Baraka: there's a great video of him reading and being interviewed in the

Lannan Foundation series, which is in many libraries.  To my mind, Baraka has

held firm to a Marxist approach to the revolutionary agenda introduced by the

Beats, later incorporated into 60s counter-culture.  I find his critique of

culture to be very informed and not dismissable simply for being Marxist;

theoretical Marxism was not foreclosed by the demise of the Soviet bloc, no

matter what George Will etc. would have us think -- the Soviets had long

since discontinued being Marxist, were totalitarian, or even (some contend)

state-controlled capitalism.  Or, to quote the rock band, The Mekons: "How

can socialism really be dead if it never even happened?"

 

 

On Naropa: If you don't want to enroll there for a longer period or just want

a taste, Naropa has a summer program (or at least they used to -- I haven't

been in touch with them in a few years) which annually brings in the

still-living heroes of American writing we've been talking about, as well as

many of the better experimental American poets who were influenced by Beat

stuff (I think of Clark Coolidge, for instance, who I saw read there) for

readings and classes.  I didn't attend Naropa, but did the CU at Boulder

writing program, and attended many of the summer Naropa events, many of which

were open to the public for an admission charge.  If you're short of cash,

you can just hang out (a popular pasttime in Boulder) and attend selected

events.

 

Has anyone on the list actually _attended_ Naropa?  What was it like?

 

Peace,

Ted Pelton

=========================================================================

Date:         Sat, 6 Jan 1996 03:03:08 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Liz Prato <Lapislove@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Naropa

 

Ted asked if anyone had ever attended Naropa. I took a class there about the

Shambhala tradition, but it too was a summer class, and I wasn't enrolled as

a full-time student. My feelings about Naropa are mixed; I very much respect

what they're trying to do, but I think they fall into the trappings many

academic institutions do, which is letting their ego get in the way of their

compassion  (this seems particularly problematic in a Buddhist-founded

school). That was just one - my -  experience though; I also knew a man who

got his M.A. from the Transpersonal Psych. program there and he emerged with

excellent counseling skills, and was very compassionate and mindful.  He told

me  that the application process for his program was pretty rigorous, but not

in the traditional academic sense. They put a lot of emphasis on personal

growth work, and communication & participation skills, more so than academic

record (which I don't suppose is such a big surprise). That's all I know.

 

Liz

(p.s. - Hi Clay)

=========================================================================

Date:         Sat, 6 Jan 1996 13:00:58 EST

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject:      Re: BEAT-L Digest - 1 Jan 1996 to 2 Jan 1996

In-Reply-To:  Message of Fri, 5 Jan 1996 22:02:04 -0500 from <Notlep@AOL.COM>

 

A footnote to Ted's posting:  The Lannan foundation has produced a number of fi

ne videos on Beats and other poets.  These videos are made available to many li

braries free through a grant from Lannan.  Check your local libraries.

=========================================================================

Date:         Sun, 7 Jan 1996 10:42:22 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Howard Park <Hpark4@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Minneapolis and SF dates for Beat show

 

According to the catalog, the "Beat Culture and the New America" show ends at

the Whitney on Feb. 4, opens at the Walker in Minneapolis on June 2 - Sept.

15, then to the de Young in San Francisco Oct. 5 - Dec. 29.

 

Howard Park

=========================================================================

Date:         Sun, 7 Jan 1996 21:28:04 -0500

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Howard Park <Hpark4@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Minn/SF Dates for Beat Show

 

Greetings from frozen Washington.  Dammit, if its not the freshmen Republican

assholes "revolutionaries" to shut the city down its the weather!

 

Anyway, according to many of you outside the beltway there was something

wrong with my previous post re: future dates for the beat show currently at

the Whitney.  Here goes:

 

through Feb. 4 - Whitney, NYC

 

June 2 - Sept. 15, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

 

Oct. 5 - Dec. 29, deYoung, San Francisco

 

BTW - I'm helping to promote a band, Outer Body Llama, and all of you near DC

should see them at the 15 Minute Club this Tuesday, 1/9 - it will be time to

dig out by then!  E-Mail me directly for details.

 

Howard Park

=========================================================================

Date:         Sun, 7 Jan 1996 22:02:00 PST

Reply-To:     "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         ccraig@CHATLINK.COM

Subject:      Looking for.....

 

I am looking for a communications group of persons who:

 

do not feel part of the baby boomers;

are not old enough to be WWIIers;

who have some of the conservative, economical ideas of the

  depression era parents who might have raised children

  before WWII;

 

I am having trouble identifying with groups born after 1946.

 

please respond to me at

ccraig@chatlink.com

=========================================================================

Date:         Tue, 9 Jan 1996 18:14:19 GMT

Reply-To:     Dan_Barth@RedwoodFN.org

Sender:       "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From:         Dan Barth <Dan_Barth@REDWOODFN.ORG>

Organization: Redwood Free-Net

Subject:      Big Sky Mind

 

        A couple of weeks ago at a used book store I picked up a book by Lafcadio

Hearn called *Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things*. Most of the

stories are from Chinese and Japanese sources.  One titled "The Story of

Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi"  includes a reference to the Buddhist "Pragna-

Paramita-Hridaya-Sutra" and includes this footnote: "Both the smaller and

larger sutras called Pragna-Paramita (Transcendent Wisdom) have been

translated by the late Professor Max Muller, and can be found in volume xlix.

of *The Sacred Books of the East* ('Buddhist Mahayana Sutras'). -- Apropos of

the magical use of the text, as described in this story, it is worth

remarking that the subject of the sutra is the Doctrine of the Emptiness of

Forms, -- that is to say, of the unreal character of all phenomena or noumena

. . . . ' Form is emptiness; and emptiness is form. Emptiness is not

different from form; form is not different from emptiness. What is form --

that is emptiness. What is emptiness -- that is form . . . . ' "

 

        I copied that down because I liked the way it resonated in my mind. Then a

few days later I was reading the Kerouac section of *Big Sky Mind* and came

across these riffs or takes that Kerouac had done on that sutra. I'm not

trying to make a point here, I just like the way these things sound, the way

old Jack played with the words and concepts of the Transcendent Wisdom Sutra.

So here you go:

 

        ". . . Philip, there's no difference between you and the tree and the fence,

different appearances of the same (holy-if-you-will) empty essence. It is in

the Hridaya Prajna Paramita, ie., like, the tree and the fence are emptiness,

the tree and the fence are not different from emptiness, neither is emptiness

different from the tree and the fence, indeed, emptiness is the tree & the

fence. Because emptiness is everything and everything is emptiness. And even

emptiness is a word, so, a prayer, the world, I mean the word emptiness is

emptiness, the word emptiness is not different from emptiness, neither is

emptiness different from the word emptiness, indeed, emptiness is the word

emptiness!" (Letter to Philip Whalen)

 

 

        "Gary here's what I hope to see before I die. A whole bunch of Bhikkus are

sitting in the open, one of them holds his juju beads and recites out loud,

while the others follow bead by bead, he is reciting spontaneous prayers that

begin with the big Buddha bead and run through the other wooden ones and the

two glass beads. He goes, say, like this: 'Sitting in the open is the

emptiness of the Buddha bead, sitting in the open is not different from the

emptiness of the Buddha bead, neither is the emptiness of the Buddha bead

different from sitting in the open, indeed, the emptiness of the Buddha bead,



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