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  • Published: 2 August 2010
  • ISBN: 9780753522523
  • Imprint: Virgin Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 640
  • RRP: $27.99

Allen Ginsberg

Beat Poet



Repackaged and refreshed, this seminal biography of a counter-cultural icon is re-issued to form a core part of the Virgin backlist


'Will surely be consulted as an Ur-text for decades to come. Read it to the end... and you'll know why he matters.' Michael Horowitz, Sunday Times

Allen Ginsberg occupies a significant and enduring position in American literature. Following Ginsberg's death in 1997, Barry Miles has drawn on both his long friendship with the poet and on Ginsberg's journals and correspondence to produce an immensely readable account of one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary poets.

  • Published: 2 August 2010
  • ISBN: 9780753522523
  • Imprint: Virgin Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 640
  • RRP: $27.99

About the author

Barry Miles

Barry Miles is the critically acclaimed author of the biographies of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs (all published by Virgin) and of The Beat Hotel. He also wrote Hippie and the authorised biography of Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now.

Also by Barry Miles

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Praise for Allen Ginsberg

This is a scholarly work and also much fun.

Guardian

Will surely be consulted as an Ur-text for decades to come. Read it at the end, along with Ginsberg's fifteen best books, and you'll know why he matters.

Michael Horowitz, Sunday Times

Skilfully evokes the poet's childhood, authoritatively expresses his opinions on sundry matters of later life and work, gives him his due as lifeforce of youthful rebellion and in the 1960s counter. Read it; you'll enjoy yourself.

Paul Berman, New York Times

Concentrating on the simultaneity of the public and private in Ginsberg's life, Miles gives us a richer insight into his poetic value - and a better read - than many a tight-lipped critical filleting.

Saul Frampton, Time Out