A report on Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady
Neal Leon Cassady (February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic and counterculture movements of the 1960s.
- Neal CassadyAs a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Generation.
- Allen GinsbergAllen Ginsberg's Howl (1956), William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch (1959), and Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957) are among the best known examples of Beat literature.
- Beat GenerationCassady also appeared in Allen Ginsberg's poems, and in several other works of literature by other writers.
- Neal CassadyNeal Cassady, as the driver for Ken Kesey's bus Furthur, was the primary bridge between these two generations.
- Beat GenerationCarr also introduced Ginsberg to Neal Cassady, for whom Ginsberg had a long infatuation.
- Allen Ginsberg6 related topics with Alpha
Jack Kerouac
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Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
It was during this time that he first met the Beat Generation figures who shaped his legacy and became characters in many of his novels, such as Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, John Clellon Holmes, Herbert Huncke, Lucien Carr, and William S. Burroughs.
Counterculture of the 1960s
2 linksAnti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed throughout much of the Western world between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s.
Anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed throughout much of the Western world between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s.
The Pranksters created a direct link between the 1950s Beat Generation and the 1960s psychedelic scene; the bus was driven by Beat icon Neal Cassady, Beat poet Allen Ginsberg was on board for a time, and they dropped in on Cassady's friend, Beat author Jack Kerouac—though Kerouac declined to participate in the Prankster scene.
On the Road
1 links1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States.
1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States.
It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use.
The novel is a roman à clef, with many key figures of the Beat movement, such as William S. Burroughs (Old Bull Lee), Allen Ginsberg (Carlo Marx), and Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty) represented by characters in the book, including Kerouac himself as the narrator Sal Paradise.
Howl (poem)
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"Howl", also known as "Howl for Carl Solomon", is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg in 1954–1955 and published in his 1956 collection Howl and Other Poems.
It came to be associated with the group of writers known as the Beat Generation.
Although Ginsberg referred to many of his friends and acquaintances (including Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Peter Orlovsky, Lucien Carr, and Herbert Huncke), the primary emotional drive was his sympathy for Carl Solomon, to whom it was dedicated; he met Solomon in a mental institution and became friends with him.
Ken Kesey
1 linksAmerican novelist, essayist and countercultural figure.
American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure.
He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s.
Following the publication of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, he moved to nearby La Honda, California, and began hosting happenings with former colleagues from Stanford, miscellaneous bohemian and literary figures (most notably Neal Cassady) and other friends collectively known as the Merry Pranksters; these parties, known as Acid Tests, integrated the consumption of LSD with multimedia performances.
These parties were described in some of Allen Ginsberg's poems and served as the basis for Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, an early exemplar of the nonfiction novel.
John Clellon Holmes
1 linksAmerican author, poet and professor, best known for his 1952 novel Go.
American author, poet and professor, best known for his 1952 novel Go.
Considered the first "Beat" novel, Go depicted events in his life with his friends Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg.