Herbert Huncke, John Clellon Holmes, Carl Solomon, and Gregory Corso Summary

In the section on Herbert Huncke, Charters mentions that while Huncke was a major influence on other Beats, he was not a major writer himself. Huncke's first story in the book is about a tall hermaphrodite named Elsie John, whom Huncke does heroin with. Elsie John begins to sell heroin and is eventually arrested and taunted by the police and other inmates for his physiology and gender. Huncke's other story is about a young heroin addict named Joey Martinez. Martinez tells Huncke about his first love affair that did not last because of the girl's father.

Charters explains that John Clellon Holmes' novel "Go," which is excerpted here, initially angered both Kerouac and Ginsberg because of how they were portrayed in the book. The excerpt...