So you have been sitting around the house wondering what to do? Smoking some reefer and listening to jazz? Then must be just about time for you to flip through The Portable Beat Reader. It gives you a good glimpse at all the usual subjects: Burroughs, Kerouac, Ginsberg, etal...and also may give you a glimpse into some you may not have known: DiPrima, Corso, Casady. Overall you would be much better served by picking up some favorite pieces by the ones you enjoy, but half the fun in life is picking up on something you have never read before and digging it. There can be no better place for an introduction to beat writing of any sort than right here...Now go throw on your Bud Powell record and use that LP cover for something besides storing an album. Groovy ( )

I don't know if I've fully read all the different authors in here. I just love Beat writing. What more can I say?
There's a great tribute to Neal Cassidy in here, written by Charles Bukowski. ( )

This is a good smorgasbord of beat lit. For people who want a good overview, you will find it here. As with any anthology there are some people whose inclusion is questionable, but that just gives more grist for the mill. ( )

Most of the times I think I'd rather hang out with them than read their stuff. ( )