Allen Ginsberg

"The prophetic poem that launched a generation when it was first published in 1965 is here presented in a commemorative fortieth anniversary edition. When the book arrived from its British printers, it was seized almost immediately by U.S. Customs, and shortly thereafter the San Francisco police arrested its publisher and editor, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, together with City Lights Bookstore manager Shigeyoshi Murao. The two of them were charged with...

"In 1977, twenty years after the publication of his landmark poem "Howl" and Jack Kerouac' On the Road, Allen Ginsberg decided it was time to teach a course on the literary history of the Beat Generation. Through this course, which he taught first at the Narope Institute in Colorado, and later at Brooklyn College, Ginsberg saw an opportunity to present a full history of Beat literature and to record his own stories and memories, ones that might otherwise...

Visionary, radical, spiritual seeker, renowned poet, founding member of a major literary movement, champion of human rights, Buddhist, political activist, and teacher, Allen Ginsberg's remarkable life shaped the very soul of American counterculture. Bonus material includes: exclusive interviews; The Making of The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg featurette; Ginsberg reading selected poems; and more

"First thought, best thought." This was the phrase that poet Allen Ginsberg used to describe spontaneous and fearless writing, a way of telling the truth that arises from naked and authentic experience. For more than 30 years, groundbreaking teachers at Naropa University such as Ginsberg and his colleagues Anne Waldman, William S. Burroughs, and Diane di Prima have inspired emerging poets and prose writers to express themselves with unfettered honesty...

"In 1969, Allen Ginsberg wrote to his friend, fellow poet, and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, "Alas, telephone destroys letters!" Fortunately, however, by then the two had already exchanged a treasure trove of personal correspondence, and more than any other documents, their letters- intimate, opinionated, and action-packed- reveal the true nature of their lifelong friendship and creative relationship. Collected here for the first time, they offer...

Brendan Behan's life can be divided into 3 parts: his youthful years in an English jail for his activities on behalf of the I.R.A.; his writing, drawn largely from his experiences as a prisoner; and his prodigious boozing, which resulted in his death in 1963 at the age of 41.

Allan Miller's affecting documentary tells Behan's story through the people who knew him best - his wife, brothers, I.R.A. comrades and fellow drinkers in the Dublin pubs,

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Martin Scorsese's documentary about Bob Dylan's legendary 1975 tour, which featured a band of troubadours including Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, and Joni Mitchell, blends behind-the-scenes archival footage, interviews, and narrative mischief.

A visit to the Spoleto Festival in Umbria on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. Highlights of the film: Don Giovanni: - director Gian Carlo Menotti, conductor Thomas Schippers, set designer Henry Moore; The Stuttgart Ballet: - choreographer John Cranko; Jerzy Grotowski's staging of El Principe Constante by Calderón presented by the Warsaw Lab Theatre, Charles Wadsworth, originator of Chamber Music Concerts at Noon - featuring brilliant young...