The Beat Generation

The Beat Generation were a revolutionary group of poets, drifters, and visionaries whose gritty spontaneous prose explored alienation, repression and what it mean to be a member of the human race in post-WWII American society. Through the iconic personalities of Ginsberg, Kerouac, Corso, and Burroughs, along with women writers, musicians, and artists, Christopher Gair chronicles the origins, adventures, and inner workings of the first counterculture movement, revealing how their fresh approach to literature and a bohemian lifestyle created one of the most exciting developments in American literature. Half a century after the publication of the modern classics Howl and On the Road, the legacy lives on, with influences ranging from abstract expressionism and bebop to The Simpsons and the Beastie Boys. Christopher Gair is a Senior Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Glasgow. His books include The American Counterculture (2007).