Naked Angels - Softcover

Tytell, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0394621794 ISBN 13: 9780394621791

Publisher: Grove Press, 1986

Synopsis

Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs-their emergence in the late 1950s as the leading figures of the Beat movement marked one of the most spectacular developments in post-World War II American literature. John Tytell's classic study examines their attempt to redefine a complacent society's notion of sanity and normalcy and to reinvent their own lives through jazz, drugs, and law-breaking, acts that ultimately led to new forms of expression. A fascinating blend of literary and social criticism, history, and biography, Naked Angels is an indispensable introduction to the lives and work of these seminal figures, and an unsurpassed look at the powerful influence they had on the 1960s and beyond.

About this title

Review:

The definitive history of the 'beat generation.' -- Leon Edel Strong, urgent, ultimately thrilling... In some 250 packed pages of text [Tytell] misses very little, unfolding his subjects' stories in detailed social and historical context and, separately, analyzing their art. Of particular usefulness is his careful tracing of the Beats' intellectual roots, their spiritual and literary influences. The New York Times A thoroughly readable and persuasive work that will take its place at the center of studies of literature [of these years]. -- Thomas Parkinson American Literature Energy, conviction, and unexpected brilliance. The New Yorker An essential book. -- John Clellon Holmes As fine a view as we are likely to get of this vibrant phase in American literary history. Chicago Sun-Times

About the Author:

John Tytell is professor of English at Queens College (CUNY) and the author of Ezra Pound, Reading New York, Paradise Outlaws, The Living Theatre, and Passionate Lives. He lives in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0394621794
• ISBN 13: 9780394621791
• Binding: Paperback