Morgan, Bill (Burroughs, William S.; Ginsberg, Allen; Huncke, Herbert; Kerouac, Jack et al.)

Beat Atlas: A State by State Guide to the Beat Generation in America

San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 2011. First Edition. Softcover. “So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, all the people dreaming in the immensity of it…” Thus begins the beautiful final chapter of ‘On the Road.’ I’ll wager that half the people who have read Jack Kerouac’s book have also dreamed of going on the road and living the life that Jack described so vividly. Very few of us have ever done it, but, in reading. the work of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, and other Beat writers, we can share in the experience of what it was like to wander across America in a gentler time….I was surprised when putting this book together that I found ‘Beat History’ in every one of the fifty states. The Beat Generation writers came from everywhere and went everywhere…[all] like-minded, kindred spirits intent upon exploring the width and breadth of America” (Abridged Quotation from Preface). Offered here is Bill Morgan’s excellent “Beat Atlas: a State by State Guide to the Beat Generation in America,” published by the great City Lights Books in 2011. You might be wondering how this book differs from the more common “Beat Generation in New York” and “Beat Generation in San Francisco” volumes also authored by Morgan (and published by City Lights). Well, as its blurb copy helpfully relays, this book should be thought of as “companion to our [City Lights’] Beat tour guides to San Francisco and New York.” So, fear not, fellow Beat Reader — as Morgan’s state-by-state guide covers “the rest of the nation’s significant Beat locales,” from “Jack Kerouac’s Lowell, to William Burroughs’ Lawrence, KS, to Neal Cassady’s Denver — and everywhere in between,” as the blurb copy reassuringly trumpets. So, what are you waiting for? Toss a copy in your glove compartment; because you just never know where The Road might lead you. [ISBN: 978-0-87286-512-9]. From the collection of Allen Tobias, former assistant to Allen Ginsberg, archivist, essayist, venerable man-of-letters & our esteemed colleague at the European Beat Studies Network (ebsn.eu). Oblong trade-format softcover: First Edition, though not explicated as such on copyright page. In strong near fine condition with only moderate shelf-wear & generally light-to-moderate bumping to fine-edges & corners of front, back cover & spine-edge; pronounced blue pen ink stain (not affecting text) to bottom left-hand corner of back cover extending through a little under half of text block, but again no text affected [and thus even more perfect for use as a ‘travel’ copy]; long-since flattened bump-crease to front cover near leftmost fine-edge, faintly visible in certain light; similar, smaller bump-crease present at top left-hand corner of back cover, yet more enunciated than that previously described, else pristine. Near Fine. [Item #5504]

Price: $15.00