Hassett, Brian (Cassady, Neal; Kesey, Ken et al.)

How The Beats Begat The Pranksters & Other Adventure Tales

ISBN: 9780994726216
Monee, IL: Get Things Done Publishing, 2017. Third Edition. Softcover. "(Brian Hassett) knows how to get backstage, into the presence of the main characters, the musicians, writers, actors & directors. He gets there by knowledge, intuition, a feel for a situation, and a very big smile. He's written a few books centered around the Beats; he's always in the middle of things and his passion gets him into situations that might daunt others. Once there, he is invariably embraced, his sense of camaraderie, spirit of fun, his knowledge of the people he has just been embraced by, gets him the nod. This makes for unusual stories, insider ones where you think he'll never manage to infiltrate...A testament to the author's perseverance and personal fascination with it all. It was all so much fun to read." (Bella Zundap, quoted from review in Beat Scene Magazine issue No. 92, Spring 2019, pg. 58) A rip-roaring chronicle of the bridging (more like a "loving embrace" as he puts it in a caption on pg. 19) between the Beat Generation & the nascent Hippie phenomenon through the legendary psychedelic adventures of The Merry Pranksters, led by Ken Kesey & Neal Cassady during the early-mid 1960s on the famous "Further" bus piloted by Cassady across the USA (as he had driven On the Road with Kerouac a decade-and-a-half earlier). Author Brian Hassett, the prolific Canadian poet, songwriter & Beat journalist extraordinaire, attended key events beginning in the 1980s, including the 1982 celebration of the first publication of On the Road in Boulder, Colorado & the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac festival in Lowell, Massachusetts (one of many, this in 2016); where he befriended the then-surviving Beats & Pranksters including Kesey, Cassady's widow Carolyn & offspring, Allen Ginsberg & the many less well-known but essential participants in the ongoing saga which, as Hassett demonstrates, is still being commemorated. With a short introduction by Prankster veteran George Walker, & many captioned images throughout. We concur with Beat Scene (Kevin Ring's indispensable UK periodical) that this is a fun trip, with Hassett evoking & even duplicating the Beat-to-Hippie-&-Beyond adventures that are living history. Trade-format softcover original, first published in 2017, this is the "Third Edition- Sept. 2018- The Beat Trilogy Edition" as stated on copyright page. With exuberant eccentricity, Hassett lists the editions of this & his other works (see our Item No. 4270) named for holidays, promotional events or publishing milestones in his life & work. On the final page is publisher's reference to "02 February 2021," so we conclude that this & all copies are print-to-order productions. A delightful & fascinating Beat-&-Beyond Hassett collectible. In very fine, substantially as-new condition with only very small, faint creases & tiny bumps at outer corners of front covers extending into first few page leaves; a touch of rubbing to lower edge of text block near corner with side-edge. Very Fine. [Item #4310]

Price: $30.00