Drugs and the "Beats": The Role of Drugs in the Lives and Writings of Kerouac, Burroughs, and Ginsberg

ISBN-10: 1589397835
ISBN-13: 9781589397835
Category: Literary Criticism
Pages: 272
Language: English
Published: 2005
Publisher: Virtualbookworm Publishing
Author: John Long

Description

In this fascinating and informative exploration of the relationship between drugs and literature, the reader will discover the lives and writings of three celebrated "beat" writers: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs. In examining the drugs they used and the consequent effects on how they lived, what they wrote about, and how they wrote, the author offers an intriguing study of the role of drugs in the creative process. No literary movement had ever explored such a variety of drugs (heroin, morphine, alcohol, amphetamines, marijuana, LSD, etc.) with such such intensity as these three iconic writers. As precursors to and models for a whole generation of "flower children," they had a profound impact not only in literature but on the whole of society.

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