Allen Ginsberg Summary

Biography EssayAllen Ginsberg's reputation as a major poet is now secure; he has outlived the other major poets of mid century with whom he is frequently compared, such as Charles Olson, Robert Lowell... Read more

Gaining notoriety for both his highly profiled activities in the social and political movements of the mid- to late twentieth century as well as for his poetry, Allen Ginsberg came to represent, to ma... Read more

Allen Ginsberg's reputation as a major poet is now secure; he has outlived the other major poets of mid-century with whom he is frequently compared, such as Charles Olson, Robert Lowell, and Frank O... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in 1969, Parkinson debates the poetic value of Ginsberg's verse, contending that it belongs “in the area of religious and spiritual explorati... Read more

In the following essay, Shechner determines the impact of Ginsberg's poetry on cultural and political events in the 1960s and 1970s and deems him “America's leading and perhaps on... Read more

In the following review, Klawans assesses Ginsberg's contribution to American poetry. Strange now to think of him, back before the medals and wreaths, when he lived in wood-frame Paterson, New ... Read more

In the following essay, Honan traces Ginsberg's role in the development of the Beat Movement in American literature and discusses the influences on both Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Slim, bearded... Read more

In the following essay, Reilly explores Ginsberg's status as an outsider and its impact on his work. Who goes there? hankering, gross, mystical, nude … —Walt Whitman, “Son... Read more

In the following excerpt, Jamison and Eyerman regard the role of radical politics on the work of Ginsberg, James Baldwin, and Mary McCarthy and deem the three authors “central actors in the rec... Read more

In the following mixed review, Everett considers the poems in Cosmopolitan Greetings as candid yet inconsistent. It will be forty years in October since Allen Ginsberg gave his historic first reading ... Read more

In the following essay, Vendler perceives “Kaddish” as “chiefly an elegy of the body—the physical body and the historically conditioned body of Naomi Ginsberg.” The ... Read more

In the following review, Chidley considers the renewed commercial and critical interest in Ginsberg's verse as well as the poet's political and social concerns. Five storeys up in a nond... Read more

In the following essay, Podhoretz recalls his disputes with Ginsberg and provides a critical assessment of his work and contribution to American poetry. “Allen Ginsberg, Master Poet of Beat Gen... Read more

In the following essay, Trigilio contrasts “Howl” and “Kaddish” and determines the “complex role ‘Kaddish’ plays in Ginsberg's development of a ... Read more

In the following essay, Harris surveys the correspondence between three of the predominant figures in the Beat Movement and elucidates its insight into the relationship between the Cold War and Beat M... Read more

Critical Essay by Louis Simpson [Ginsberg's] has been a spectacular career, and some of the thinking that went into making it is recorded in these "Journals"—but not enough... Read more

[In the following interview, Ginsberg discusses censorship of his works, politics, and his reaction to fame.] I arrived at Allen Ginsberg's apartment on the lower east side of Manhattan at noon... Read more

[In the following obituary, Hampton eulogizes Ginsberg, providing a review of his life and work.] Allen Ginsberg, the poet laureate of the Beat Generation whose "Howl!" became a manifest... Read more

[In the following essay, Grossman discusses Ginsberg's contribution to Jewish poetry, focusing particularly on Kaddish.] The Jew, like the Irishman, presents himself as a type of the sufferer i... Read more

[In the following essay, Parkinson considers whether Ginsberg is truly a poet, centering his discussion on Planet News.] Allen Ginsberg is a notoriety, a celebrity; to many readers and non-readers of ... Read more

[In the following review of Journals Mid-Fifties, Theroux argues that the journals are often dull and reveal little of Ginsberg's life.] A pile of pages, scribbled odds and ends, Allen Ginsberg... Read more

[In the following excerpt, Vendler discusses Ginsberg's use of traditional Jewish prayer, the influence of other writers, and his observations on his mother in the poem "Kaddish."... Read more

[In the following essay, Ostriker argues that while Ginsberg rejected elements of his Jewish heritage, it still influenced his writing.] I have reverenced Allen Ginsberg—man and poet—for... Read more

Samantha Wyatt ... Read more