Collected Poems 1947-1980
by Allen Ginsberg
On This Page
Description
A collection of the verse of one of America's great poets over three decades.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
Amazing! This volume covers Mr. Ginsberg's growth and development as a poet. It's nicely put together. I got to hear Mr. Ginsberg read his poetry in Norman, Oklahoma on March 4, 1993. He forgot his book to read from. A favorite professor of mine approached me and asked if Allen could borrow my copy of his book. So, my college paperback of Collected Poems says in the front "with thanks to Inga for loaning me this volume - Allen Ginsberg."
Ginsberg was where it was at for a long time. His spin helped us to look at our time from a unique perspective.
I haven't read every poem yet in this collection but what I've read piece by piece over the years is incredible.
I read this book off an on whenever I get the urge and need to learn more about the world. I'm not sure why I love it so much, but it's there upon my shelf. Normally I don't buy collections because I like to own smaller books (and I do mean normal size, not tiny easy to read books), but for this book, I needed for a class that I took.
Howl remains my favorite.
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked...
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked...
Signed at City Lights, dated 3/27/91.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Catalog
41 works; 2 members
Books We Discovered On LibraryThing
530 works; 130 members
Author Information
300+ Works 16,910 Members
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of poet and teacher Louis Ginsberg. In 1948, he received a B.A. degree from Columbia University. Ginsberg began writing poetry while still in school and first gained wide public recognition in 1956 with the long poem Howl. Howl has had a stormy history. When it was first recited at show more poetry readings, audiences cheered wildly. It was published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books and printed in England. Before the printed copies could be distributed, however they were seized by U.S. custom officials as obscene. After a famous court case in which the poem was found not to be obscene, the work sold rapidly and Ginsberg's reputation was assured. Regarded as the foremost port of the Beat generation (as group of rebellious writers who opposed conformity and sough intensity of experience), Ginsberg's work is concerned with many subjects of contemporary interest, including drugs, sexual confusion, the voluntary poverty of the artist and rebel, and rejection of society. He is a poet with a significant message, and his criticism of American society is part of a long tradition of American writers who have questioned their country's values. Ginsberg received numerous honors, including a Woodbury Poetry Prize, a National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, and a National Book Award for poetry. Ginsberg was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1995 for his book Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986-1992. Ever the Bohemian, he had numerous occupations throughout his lifetime including dishwasher, porter, book reviewer, and spot welder. He died in April 1997 of complications due to liver cancer. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 963
- Popularity
- 27,347
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (4.16)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 1
