Various (Ring, Kevin (Editor); Abbott, Keith; Brautigan, Richard; Burroughs, William S.; Ginsberg, Allen; Huncke, Herbert; Jones, Jay; Kerouac, Jack; Lamantia, Philip; Laughlin, James; Nicosia, Gerald; Pommy Vega, Janine; Selby Jr., Hubert et al.)

Beat Scene No. 31 (1998)

Coventry, England: The Beat Scene Press, 1998. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. This vintage 1998 number of the magazine-format literary journal edited & published by Kevin Ring in the UK features an excerpt from Keith Abbott's memoir of Richard Brautigan, Downstream from Trout Fishing in America, along with an article about the circumstances of Brautigan's suicide in 1984 by Ring. Also, a very lengthy & informative article by Jay Jones on the Beat origins of the Summer of Love (that is, the Beat-to-Hippie evolution) with many great images that exemplify this important topic; a critical-biographical essay on the great Beat-Surrealist poet Philip Lamantia by Jim Burns; facsimiles of hand-typed & -written letters by Allen Ginsberg to a recipient in Yugoslavia during the early 1980s & early 1990s; a tribute to James Laughlin, venerable publisher of the iconic New Directions imprint, who had died the previous year (1997); reviews of works by or about Janine Pommy Vega, William S. Burroughs, Herbert Huncke, Jack Kerouac, Ginsberg, Hubert Selby Jr. & others; & much more. With many reproductions of iconic Beat photographs & illustrations throughout, including of Brautigan on the front cover & Kerouac (front cover of the softcover edition of Gerald Nicosia's magisterial critical biography Memory Babe) on back cover. A now-classic, earlier issue in this great & collectible series that always lives up to its motto: "This is the Beat Generation." In very fine condition with only very slight rubbing to front, back covers & stapled spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same; staples in process of rusting but with no discernible exterior or interior bleeding; one small spot at upper edge of text block. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps to mostly lower corners of page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #4064]

Price: $30.00