beat list september 1995

From: mARK hEMENWAY <mhemenway@S1.DRC.COM>

Subject: Re: Dharma beat subscriptions

To subscribe ($5.00) or purchase a single copy ($2.00), of Dharma beat

send check or cash to:

The Jack Kerouac subterranean Information Society

Box 1753

Lowell, MA 01852

Thanks.

Mark Hemenway

=========================================================================

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 08:31:39 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: mARK hEMENWAY <mhemenway@S1.DRC.COM>

Subject: Re: Dharma beat zip

Sorry, make that Lowell, MA <<01853>> .

=========================================================================

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 08:56:30 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Blaine Allan <ALLANB@QUCDN.QUEENSU.CA>

Subject: Re: Pull my Daisy

Comments: To: Multiple recipients of list BEAT-L

<BEAT-L%CUNYVM.BITNET@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu>

In-Reply-To: Message of Wed, 13 Sep 1995 10:14:36 GMT+1000 from

<GBOLAND@BARTS.MIT.CSU.EDU.AU>

On Wed, 13 Sep 1995 10:14:36 GMT+1000 Gerard Boland said:

>The Amram Quintet (with Lynn Sheffield singing) version of one of the

>poems can be heard on "The Beat Generation" CD set, v. 2., I beleive

>this is the version that you also hear at the beginning and/or end of

>the film.

Not exactly. This is a rerecording, first released (I believe) on

Amram's LP No More Walls. The original track was sung by Anita Ellis.

Apart from her own recording and performances on stage and on radio,

she is noted for having dubbed singing voices for Hollywood movie stars.

Along this line, she's probably best known for the singing voice of

Rita Hayworth in Gilda.

Blaine Allan ALLANB@QUCDN.QueensU.CA

Film Studies

Queen's University

Kingston, Ontario

Canada K7L 3N6

=========================================================================

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 09:46:04 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject: Re: Pull My Daisy

In-Reply-To: Message of Tue, 12 Sep 1995 17:41:18 EDT from

<ALLANB@QUCDN.QUEENSU.CA>

Blaine, if your dissertation is available through UMI, you might include the or

der number in case people wish to purchase.

=========================================================================

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 10:27:48 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Sherry Linkon <sjlinkon@CC.YSU.EDU>

Subject: Re: Academic treatment of the Beats

Comments: To: Tony Trigilio <atrigili@LYNX.DAC.NEU.EDU>

In-Reply-To: <199509122200.SAA20079@lynx.dac.neu.edu>

I'm starting a class on 50s lit next week, and I hope to generate some

discussion about this very point. My students tend to love the Beats,

while I am (horrors) ambivalent about them, especially on biographical

grounds. In literary terms, they're clearly important and intriguing,

and I want to move my students past their hero-worship to consider how a

writer's image intersects with his/her work. Examining the Beats in the

context of the times will help with this -- at least, that's my hope.

Sherry Linkon

=========================================================================

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 11:07:48 GMT+1000

Reply-To: gboland@csu.edu.au

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Gerard Boland <GBOLAND@BARTS.MIT.CSU.EDU.AU>

Subject: Re: Academic treatment of the Beats

Just the other day, Sherry Linkon wrote:

>I'm starting a class on 50s lit next week, and I hope to generate some

>discussion about this very point. My students tend to love the Beats,

>while I am (horrors) ambivalent about them, especially on biographical

>grounds. In literary terms, they're clearly important and intriguing,

>and I want to move my students past their hero-worship to consider how

>a writer's image intersects with his/her work. Examining the Beats in

>the context of the times will help with this -- at least, that's my

>hope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My advice would be to avoid On The Road... but start with things like

"October in the Railroad Earth" and "Howl"...

Now, what are they talking about? Does this sound like the America that

you know? Sure, R&R was starting to kick along but what was American

society so uptight about? Why was the social conformity such a big deal?

In a real sense,I reckon that one could argue that the beats were the

first post modernists to be published in America [ok, Joyce, etc... but

nevertheless its a good discussion starter] and a big part of the

problem was that the literary critics were all modernists who were

arguing for the "high culture" centre of American society. And the beats

were wailing at the "margins" and scratched open all of the latent

feelings of "cultural cringe" in relation to Europe and (of course) the

presumed & presumptious "centre" of American society.

But back to your class:

I'd also use selections from the CD recordings... on that score don't

miss JK's "The Three Stooges" and especially his reading of "Old Angel

Midnight"...

Find a recording of Ginsberg reading "Howl" and "America" (somebody

please let me know where I too can find this on CD!)...

And most of all, get them to prepare "moved readings" of their favourite

selections... to be rehearsed and read in class and/or your student

union... readings with multiple participants work particurly well...

especially when you can include live music... lots of people have

musical ability and you might consider tapping/taping this!

Best of luck professor sherry!

And just since I'm on line here... here's a snatch of poetry that I

really like from McClure's "Love Me for the Fool I Am (the laughing

angle-imbecile)

Our love is flawed

and swallowed

by the rush of time.

A mindless innocence,

they say,

is crime.

We dance on borrowed feet.

=========================================================================

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 22:23:36 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Sherry Linkon <sjlinkon@CC.YSU.EDU>

Subject: Re: Academic treatment of the Beats

Comments: To: Gerard Boland <GBOLAND@BARTS.MIT.CSU.EDU.AU>

In-Reply-To: <3AED8813452@barts.mit.csu.edu.au>

I should have clarified that I have taught this material before, which is

why Ihave some sense of students' responses. One cool "trick" used on

the last round, which positioned the Beats in context with abstract

expressionist painting and jazz and rock and roll, was to show a film of

Jackson Pollock in the act of painting, but with the sound turned off on

the film and replaced by a tape of Ginsburg reading "Howl" and then

Charlie Parker's "Night in Tunisia." The intersection makes clear that

there are rhythmic patterns that link the various artistic genres. I

have students perform readings regularly in all kinds of lit classes -- a

good suggestion, Gerald. Also, one of my students works at the campus

coffee house, where one of his jobs it to arrange the monthly poetry

readings. So for October, he wants to have a Beat Beat (the name of the

coffeehouse is The Beat) Halloween reading, and invite members of the

class and anyone else who's interested to both read Beat lit and dress up

in their best version of Beat garb. The readings are usually accompanied

by jazz, and I assume this one would be, too. Part of me loves this idea

and part of me worries that this is part of that Beat hero-worship, which

may keep people from reading the Beats and their period critically.

We'll see.

Sherry Linkon

=========================================================================

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 02:45:38 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: "James D. Barger" <CoolMadman@AOL.COM>

Subject: Re: Academic treatment of the Beats

Sherry Linkon writes:

>>Part of me loves this idea and part of me worries that this is part of that

Beat hero-worship, which may keep people from reading the Beats and their

period critically.

We'll see.<<

Sure, there's a bit o' hero worship of the Beats in certain circles. But,

what's wrong with an excitement over talent and art? Yeah, it's annoying

when the image of these old and dead artists overshadows their work. Yet,

I'm glad to know that their art is kept alive in any form. I say "worship

whatever you find worthy." As long as you maintain just enough objectivity

to fool people into thinking that you're not totally mad.

The fact is that some of the Beats did lead lives that were extraordinary,

while many other artists lead rather mundane existances. And, in some cases,

Beatnik writers' lives were a form of art in their own right. Certainly, if

all of those stories had been pure fiction, they never would have gained the

level of popularity that they did. Much of their accomplishments would have

been lost to future generations. It is often the reality of their lives --

and the myths -- that pulls 18-year-old kids into bookstores in search of

something beautiful and powerful.

James Barger

Jacksonville, Florida

=========================================================================

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:02:54 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Comments: Resent-From: Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM>

Comments: Originally-From: LisaTMP@aol.com

From: Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject: reminder of Dallas beat event

----------------------------Original message----------------------------

Please post this to your mailing list if you think it's appropriate--It was

posted earlier this summer, buut it opens next week and wanted to remind

everyone. Thanks very much.

"VISIONARIES AND REBELS:

AMERICAN LITERATURE AFTER THE ATOM BOMB"

SCHEDULE OF FALL EVENTS

For press information:

Lisa Taylor, Taylor-Made Press

(214) 943-1099

Revised Aug. 4, 1995

EXHIBIT

"VISIONARIES AND REBELS: AMERICAN LITERATURE AFTER THE ATOM BOMB"

AN EXHIBIT OF THE COLOPHON MODERNS COLLECTION

FIRST EDITION BOOKS FROM 1950-1975

SEPT. 20-NOV. 17 AT SMU DEGOLYER LIBRARY, 6404 Hilltop Lane.

The exhibit will be FREE and open to the public Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5

p.m. as well as during special events. Call (214) 768-3225 for more

information. The exhibit of over 60 works, curated by SMU alumna Mary

Courtney, includes first editions by Edward Albee, James Baldwin, Saul

Bellow, Richard Brautigan, Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, Robert

Creeley, James Dickey, Joan Didion, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg,

Joseph Heller, Robert Kelly, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Norman Mailer, Larry

McMurtry, Flannery O'Connor, Joyce Carol Oates, Gary Snyder, Kurt Vonnegut,

Anne Waldman and Thomas Wolfe.

OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION/TALK

Sept. 20 6:30 p.m. DeGolyer Library

6404 Hilltop Lane, SMU Campus. Free, donations accepted.

Opening celebration in honor of charter members and former presidents of the

Friends of SMU Libraries. Decherd Turner will speak on "My Literary Dilemma:

Too Young to be Lost, Too Old to be Beat"

BEAT FILMS

Presented in conjunction with Southwest Film and Video Archives at Greer

Garson Theatre Building third floor, Meadows School of the Arts, SMU Campus.

FREE ADMISSION. Donations accepted.

Sept. 28 7:30 p.m.

Jack Kerouac's Road : Through photographs, archival film footage, interviews

and skillful reconstructions of events, Jack Kerouac's Road traces the life

of this gifted American writer. French with English subtitles.

William S. Burroughs: Commissioner of the Sewers: A portrait of the author

who created Naked Lunch. With his characteristically dry wit and subtle

humor, Burroughs talks about language and other weapons, about the work as a

virus, about death and dreams, about travel in time and space.

Sept. 29 7:30 p.m.

Kerouac: An award winning docu-drama about the King of the Beat Generation,

Jack Kerouac.

OVER

PAGE TWO

SMU

FILMS OF ROBERT FRANK

Presented in conjunction with Dallas Artists Research & Exhibition in the

CineMac at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC), 3120 McKinney Ave. $2

for DARE members and

Friends of SMU Libraries; $4 general

Oct. 6-7 8 p.m./ Oct. 8 3 p.m

Pull My Daisy and Energy and How to Get It

Oct. 13-14 at 8 p.m., Oct. 15 at 3 p.m.

This Song for Jack and Hunter

Oct. 20-21 8 p.m., Oct. 22 3 p.m.

Conversations in Vermont and Life Dances On

Oct. 27-28 8 p.m., Oct. 29 3 p.m.

C'est Vrai

MOMENTS WITH THE MODERNS: A READING SERIES

Presented by The Writer's Garret in the Atrium of the Hughes-Trigg Student

Center, SMU. FREE ADMISSION. Donations accepted.

Oct. 5 7:30 p.m. READING BETWEEN THE LINES: An interactive/dramatic reading

and critique of the works of Jack Kerouac, with emphasis on On the Road.

Mark Hankla will play Jack Kerouac, and Joe Stanco will be "the interviewer"

who corners, crowds, and cajoles him in deeper definition.

Oct. 12 7:30 p.m. READING BETWEEN THE LINES: An interactive/dramatic reading

and critique of the works of James Baldwin, with emphasis on Go Tell It On

the Mountain. Fred Gardner will play James Baldwin, Glodean Baker-Gardner

will be the interviewer.

Oct. 26 7:30 p.m. REEL/REAL WRITERS: a screening of a Lannan Literary Video,

which features Allen Ginsberg on video, with Joe Stanco live. Encore

performance from The Mac.

EAT TO THE BEAT-DINING

Michele's Coffee Bar & Cafe, 6617 Snider Plaza, will present a benefit night

on Monday, Oct. 2 5-9:30 p.m. for the Friends of the SMU Libraries. Drumming

by Jamal Mohmed. Proceeds will benefit the Friends' organization. Call

691-8164 for reservations.

PANEL DISCUSSION

In celebration of The Southwest Review's 80th Anniversary

'A Literary Overview of the Post War Period"

Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. FREE.

Hughes-Trigg Student Center Auditorium, SMU campus

The panel will be moderated by Willard Spiegelman, Prof. of Literature at

SMU, with participation by Steven Kellman, Ashbel Smith Professor of

Comparative Literature, UT San Antonio; Jack Myers, Professor of English,

SMU. Additional panelists to be announced.

PAGE THREE

SMU

MUSIC

Meadows New Music Ensemble

Nov. 8 8 p.m. O'Donnell Lecture Recital Hall SMU Meadows School of the Arts

FREE Improvisational performance of beat poetry and music.

SMU LITERARY FESTIVAL

1995 Student Book Collecting Contest

Awards presentation

Nov. 17 at Hughes Trigg Student Center

All full-time undergraduate and graduate SMU students are eligible to enter

this contest sponsored the Friends of the SMU Libraries. Deadline for

entries is Nov. 1. Display of the winning book collections and a reception

honoring the winners takes place at 6:30 p.m. in DeGolyer Library prior to

the presentation of the awards by the SMU Literary Festival guest author in

the Hughes Trigg Theater. To commemorate the Friends' 25th anniversary, a

special prize will be given to the collection that best establishes the

original Colophon Collection theme.

=========================================================================

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 15:13:12 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: "Stedman, Jim" <JSTEDMAN@NMU.EDU>

Subject: October In The Railroad Earth

In-Reply-To: In reply to your message of Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:02:54 EDT

Plans are now underway for the second OITRE festival, which will again

be held in the far north Lake Superior 'burb of Marquette, Michigan. An

evening full of readings, music, and peformance, the gathering is

scheduled for October 19th, at The Koffee Haus on North Third Street.

Information can be had by e-mailing jstedman@nmu.edu

=========================================================================

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 16:36:13 +0000

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Vicente Garcia Pineiro <vgarcia@GOLIAT.UGR.ES>

Subject: (fwd) PERU: Medicine Men, Hallucinogens and Neuro-psychiatry

Reciently, some people have asked about yage, ayahuasca, etc.

I think this can be interesting for them.

Vic

>Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive

>Subject: PERU: Medicine Men, Hallucinogens and Neuro-psychiatry

>Followup-To: alt.activism.d

>Date: 31 Aug 1995 23:08:55 GMT

>Organization: PACH

>Lines: 140

>Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu

>Message-ID: <425fe7$lvs@news.missouri.edu>

>NNTP-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu

>/** ppn.peru: 201.0 **/

>** Topic: IPS: PERU: Medicine Men, Hallucinogens and Neuro-psychiatry **

>** Written 4:04 PM Aug 19, 1995 by newsdesk in cdp:ppn.peru **

> Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.

> *** 16-Aug-95 ***

>Title: PERU: Medicine Men, Hallucinogens and Neuro-psychiatry

>by Abraham Lama

>LIMA, Aug 16 (IPS) - When Peruvian medicine men and their patients

>drink the juice of the ''san pedro'' cactus they have astonishing

>visions which are interpreted as messages and answers by the

>shaman.

>A similar effect is achieved by drinking the ''ayahuasca''

>(rope of the dead), a vine from the Amazon forest taken in

>sessions where darkness, whistles, chanting in strange tongues and

>the sound of rhythmically shaken seeds create a collective

>emotional atmosphere.

>Hallucinogens extracted from the ''san pedro'' cactus (written

>without capital letters so as not to offend the saint) and the

>''ayahuasca'' are ritual tools of Peruvian shamans.

>The healer considers his activity sacred. The hallucinations he

>has are seen as bridges between earthly reality and the heavenly

>plane.

>Hallucinogens have been used for magical therapy since ancient

>times in Peru. Representations of the process can be seen in

>textiles and a mural from the Chavin temple in Huantar.

>Historian and Catholic Priest Bernabe Cobo who arrived with the

>conquering Spanish soldiers, reported the use of the ''achuma''

>cactus by the original population.

>''It is the plant through which the devil possesses the Indians

>of Peru...Those who drink the juice lose their reason and are left

>as though dead, transported by this drink they dream 1,000

>extravagances and believe them as though they were true,'' he

>wrote.

>''The juice can be used against burning kidneys and a small

>quantity will ease a fever, jaundice and burning urine,'' he

>added. Italian anthropologist and archaeologist Mario Polia

>travelled the mountain and coastal provinces of northern Peru for

>20 years excavating and collecting oral history.

>In his opinion, Christianity has only added a gloss on

>continuing pagan myths and practices.

>Polia said the healers claim the spirit of the cactus takes

>them to the ''gardens of Manco Capac'', the first healer who

>brought medicinal knowledge to the Incas. That is where the first

>power comes from, but all the action is taken in the name of the

>Christian God.

>This fusion of two religious roots explains why the healers'

>''tables'' - which are often simply a rug on the ground - have

>pre-Colombian articles alongside Catholic relics.

>The origin of the name ''san pedro'' is explained in many ways.

>One of the stories goes that ''Jesus played a trick on Saint Peter

>one time by hiding his keys to heaven.''

>''Saint Peter tired himself out looking all over the

>countryside for the lost keys, and finally, worn out and hungry he

>sat down under a cactus and chewed on one of its roots which

>helped him to ''see'' where the keys were. Jesus said, ''How did

>you find them?'' and Saint Peter answered, ''I ate this cactus,''

>and Jesus said, ''With this you can heal and you can see.''''

>The Peruvian medicine men have provided much information on

>medicinal plants to modern medicine, ranging from Quinnine to

>''una de gato'' (cat's claw), which strengthens the immune system

>and may be used to treat AIDS in future.

>Neuro-psychiatrist Fernando Cavieses, leading researcher into

>Peruvian traditional medicine and herbalism, explained that the

>healers and doctors both live within the same social space.

>''As a result of their training, aims, ideology and respective

>interests, the professions are separate. There is often conflict

>between them, but there have also been exchanges which have

>benefitted both,'' he said.

>Cavieses said that the cactus product was very helpful in the

>field of neuropsychiatry and in the modern theory of neuro-

>transmitters.

>''The extract, taken from the ''san pedro'' cactus, was the

>first pure alkaloid hallucinogen to be studied scientifically, and

>this experimentation opened up new ground for modern

>psychopharmology,'' said Cavieses.

>Researchers studying shamanism worldwide have pointed out the

>importance of the rhythm of the sessions, which goes much further

>than a simple creation of atmosphere.

>''The drumming, the sound of the maracas or the sound of any

>instrument which produces and maintains a rhythm at the beginning

>of a shamanism session constitutes one of the preliminary

>conditions of the ecstatic journey,'' said Cavieses.

>''The healer says it is to call the spirits. But its real

>effect, though the shaman is not aware, is the creation of a

>biological rhythm which encourages the trance state he wants to

>cause. It is the rationalisation of the irrational,'' he said.

>In the words of a Siberian shaman quoted by anthropologist W.D.

>Bogoras, ''If you go out into the wilderness. You will find a

>drum. If you start to beat it you will see the whole world.''

>(END/IPS/tra-so/al/ag/sm/95)

>Origin: Amsterdam/PERU/

> ----

> [c] 1995, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)

> May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or

> service outside of the APC networks, without specific

> permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution

> via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists,

> print media and broadcast. For information about cross-

> posting, send a message to <ips-info@igc.apc.org>. For

> information about print or broadcast reproduction please

> contact the IPS coordinator at <ipsrom@gn.apc.org>.

>** End of text from cdp:ppn.peru **

>***************************************************************************

>This material came from PeaceNet, a non-profit progressive networking

>service. For more information, send a message to peacenet-info@igc.apc.org

>***************************************************************************

>--

> == Daniel Davidson ==

> ** Don't hit. Clean your mess **

> davidson@sfsu.edu

> It is considered appropriate to sustain conditions

> which are against the best interests of almost everyone.

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=========================================================================

Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 00:39:16 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Dan Lauffer <DanLauff@AOL.COM>

Subject: Re: Pull my Daisy

On text of poem thread. Original publication was in 1950 under AG's name as

"Fie My Fum" in NEUROTICA #6, AG's first commercial publication. Text was

Allen's with some rearrangement by JK. Later, the extended text was published

in the book of Pull my Daisy Grove 1961. AG noted some lines of Kerouac's and

one by Cassidy. The both texts are in AG's Gates of Wrath, with a note on

the various Version at the end.

=========================================================================

Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 10:12:41 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Blaine Allan <ALLANB@QUCDN.QUEENSU.CA>

Subject: Re: Pull My Daisy

Comments: To: Multiple recipients of list BEAT-L

<BEAT-L%CUNYVM.BITNET@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu>

In-Reply-To: Message of Wed, 13 Sep 1995 09:46:04 EDT from

<WXGBC%CUNYVM.BITNET@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu>

On Wed, 13 Sep 1995 09:46:04 EDT Bill Gargan said:

>Blaine, if your dissertation is available through UMI, you might include the or

>der number in case people wish to purchase.

By popular request, the order number is AAC 8423199, and it's available

from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann

Arbor, MI 48106.

The title is "The New American Cinema and the Beat Generation, 1956-1960"

(I think I had it the other way round in my earlier post), written for

Northwestern University and completed in 1984. It includes chapters on

the study of subcultures; the Beat Generation as a subculture; the New

American Cinema as a movement in the US cinematic avant-garde; and

case studies on Jazz on a Summer's Day (Bert Stern's documentary on

the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival), the low-budget feature-length dramas

On the Bowery (Lionel Rogosin, 1956) and Shadows (John Cassavetes, 1959),

and, of course, Pull My Daisy (a 95-page chapter, I'm abashed to note).

Blaine Allan ALLANB@QUCDN.QueensU.CA

Film Studies

Queen's University

Kingston, Ontario

Canada K7L 3N6

=========================================================================

Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 10:39:45 PDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Tim Bowden <tcbowden@NERDNOSH.ORG>

Organization: Yucca Flats II in Felton, CA

Subject: _Big Sur_, Gutenberg, and us

In-Reply-To: <14SEP95.16437661.0075.MUSIC@NMU.EDU>

Took _Visions of Cody_ off the shelf at the local bookshop, sat down

with it, opened to where the rhapsody begins, chapter 2. Tell me where

there is language that sings like this? Rarely anywhere in English, to

my ear.

But I wonder how many agree. I mean by this, how many regard Kerouac as

a writer, and not just a literary figure? I have to wonder when I see

this area filled up with references to movies, CDs, and whether some rock

star is or isn't truly a Beat.

I'm not suggesting anything about current literacy rates. I'm

suspecting there has always been a more general celebration of Kerouac

the King of the Beats than there have been earnest and ardent readers of

the canon. When I was young, I could mutter `Pick up, man, pick up' or

`forgetful road buddy' and be understood by one or two of those close to

me. When I say, `You know what President Truman said,' how many today

would know what I mean?

And maybe the lack of attention isn't solely with the readers. Take _Big

Sur_. Now, you can read all of Tolstoi and maybe come up with one typo

in the whole of it. That's because it is read closely by editors,

translators, and the public. But look at Chapter 24 of _Sur_, beginning

with line #5:

his pet hawk, of all things, the hawk is black as night

and sits there

Now, that line was blown by the printers the first time around. Know

how I know? Because they removed the linotype - and set the incorrect

copy over in the next page, so that it reads

up, the car even of all thinks, the hawk is black as night

and sits there faster in lieu of rubbing his hands with

beginning about line 22 of page 109 of the Bantam edition.

The printer saw he had `thinks' for `things', I suppose, and removed the

offending type, but dropped it in the same measure into another part of

the text. This was in 1962. And that printer's error remains to this

day, in the most recent quality paperback versions.

If you leave aside some of the silliness and self-indulgence of Kerouac,

his line is easy to follow. I never understood why some thought

_Subterraneans_ a difficult read - it is the exact frenetic and

flavorful pace of someone rapt and eager telling a tale, and it all

rhymes. K is not Joyce, nor Gertrude Stein. He should be read just as

you might listen to a frantic exuberant intricate song from a very able

wordslinger...

But I think the books were not well-read. Oh, I know _Road_ is taught

at schools and often you see it laying about dorms, but I'm not sure

very many souls actually open it anymore. My own personal shibboleth is

this glaring error in _Big Sur_, in existence lo these 33 years and

more...

Tim Bowden

tcbowden@clovis.nerdnosh.org

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Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 14:52:19 -0500

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Nicholas Herren <NPH002@ACAD.DRAKE.EDU>

Subject: Big Sur

I'm sorry but I think you are just plain wrong on your interpretation of

Kerouacs writing. Who cares if thinks is written on the 109 th page of

the 216 book instead of thing or if anyone still reads his writing.

The whole point behind his genius is what he had to say. And its not just

about smoking 'tea' and taking benzidrine or drinking himself to death.

How can you read Big Sur and not imagine yourself on that beach or making

that damn in the stream for the water or sitting in a chair with just utter

contempt for all the shit in the society that has gone so wrong. Or read

Dharma Bums and see that the is spelled teh instead of being on top of the

mountain and then running down it or taking to some crazy guy or imagining

just being for one day with someone like Japhy Ryder someone who actually

has still got a little bit of energy and enthusiam for this life instead of

a plentitude of boredom.

Whats the big deal about Joyce anyway. Who wants to write a book that is

utterly incomprehensible. And if you are complaining that Kerouac is un

understandable i suggest you try to read Joyce (who himself is just mimicking

the irish or scottish dialect in my opinion).

Why even read anything if all you are doing is looking for errors. I just

read GO and it has over ten errors itself I am sure because I ACTUALLY DID

READ IT, but I dont care because it actually moved me the passage about

STROFSKY (Ginsberg) and his visions to utter distress.

Ah hell its all just a bunch of shit anyway, why do you care?

=========================================================================

Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 13:28:57 PDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Tim Bowden <tcbowden@NERDNOSH.ORG>

Organization: Yucca Flats II in Felton, CA

Subject: Re: Big Sur

In-Reply-To: <01HVB4T79FIE0052OU@ACAD.DRAKE.EDU>

Nicholas Herren <NPH002@ACAD.DRAKE.EDU> writes:

> I'm sorry but I think you are just plain wrong on your interpretation of

> Kerouacs writing.

I'm not sorry, but you have badly mangled an effort to interpret the

article you are attempting to follow.

> Who cares if thinks is written on the 109 th page of

> the 216 book instead of thing or if anyone still reads his writing.

> The whole point behind his genius is what he had to say.

Obviously, not enough care, or even notice. Did you? And wouldn't a

concern for what he had to say be assumed from a close reading of the

text?

I agree with Kerouac's own assessment; he was a wordslinger, not an

idea man, and what he had to say was in the diction, and not in the

doings. In fact, _Big Sur_ is the history of a fairly common alcoholic

breakdown, less the prosody. It is the telling, more than the tale.

> ..contempt for all the shit in the society that has gone so wrong.

What has gone wrong in _Big Sur_ is in the author's mind and body. This

wasn't a traditional rage against conformity and compromise, like

_Dharma Bums_.

> Whats the big deal about Joyce anyway. Who wants to write a book that

> is utterly incomprehensible. And if you are complaining that Kerouac

> is un understandable i suggest you try to read Joyce (who himself is

> just mimicking the irish or scottish dialect in my opinion).

(1) My point was exactly the reverse, as I stated quite clearly - in

most cases, Kerouac is eminently comprehensible, even to younger newage

readers, and

(2) I've read Joyce, thanks.

> Why even read anything if all you are doing is looking for errors.

The presence of blatant errors in the text is an indication of the care

that goes into the preparing, and ultimately the reading, of the volume.

And this particular error rears up to a careful reader without the need

to look for it.

It isn't just a typo, it's a complete mangling of the rhythm and sense

of the passage. Now, that strikes to the heart of what is important

about Kerouac. So, what could be more significant than a fowling of the

very essence? You think _Sur_ is just a story about a halcyon time in a

cabin off the beach? It's much closer to Dante (the opening is very

similar, deliberately so - especially when you realize the actual

terrain, which I have walked, is nothing like the fearful hellish

setting of the story) than to a Boekecker guide to the California coast.

Can you imagine a stray line of junk type cast carelessly about in

_The Inferno_?

It is words singing, or it's nothing, son...

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Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 15:15:52 PDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: "Timothy K. Gallaher" <gallaher@HSC.USC.EDU>

Subject: Visionsof Cody&BigSurstuff

Well now,

I don't know that these discussions are worth getting upset over, but at the

same time I do enjoy and appreciate passion and not to say a good healthy

emotional argument from time to time.

James Joyce's books are not all unintelligible or hard to understand. The

stories in Dubliners and the novel portrait of the artist as young man are

not difficult except in vocabulary and breadth of knowledge presented in these

books. In Ulysses and Finnegans wake his books became much more difficult to

understand as he began his delving into the subconsious. Yet Ulysses is

readable to anyone who can read Visions of Cody. Of course FW then delves into

the unconscious and becomes quite difficult to understand.

Kerouac was influenced heavily by Joyce and in some cases is difficult to read

in a similar manner as Joyce. Visions of Cody and Dr. Sax are probably his

most difficult books to read. I think kerouac considered these two to be

his best works as well. The best example of a difficult to read work by

Kerouac is Old Angel Midnight. It was heavily Wake inspired and Kerouac wrote

that he felt it was a failed attempt. (I read this in the recent letters book-

if anyone wants more detail as to what he said about Old Angel Midnight I will

look it up and present it here).

In Visions of Cody Kerouac shows his Joyce influence by mentioning Gogarty.

Gogarty was Joyce's friend who was the model for Stately Plump Buck Mulligan.

A large part of Visions of Cody as i recall includes such literary allusions

as I think part of the Visions of Cody book was chronicling Kerouacs

development as an artist. The book is multilveled and seeks to ultimately

tell the story of Cody but in doing so he tells his story of his quest to

develop a way to fully embody Cody in print.

Dr. Sax has difficult passages as it embodies dreams and fantasy as well as

the everday reality of the young Duluoz. And for youngsters these worlds

merge. "Transcendenta transcendenta we will dance a mad cadenza". I mean,

what does this mean? Well somehow we know exactly what it means.

Anyhow, pointing out typos is of interest to me and probably most of us.

I wonder how many typos are in Visions of Cody? Or Dr. Sax?

=========================================================================

Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 20:31:28 PDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Tim Bowden <tcbowden@NERDNOSH.ORG>

Organization: Yucca Flats II in Felton, CA

Subject: Re: Visionsof Cody&BigSurstuff

In-Reply-To: <CMM.0.90.2.811203352.gallaher@hsc.usc.edu>

"Timothy K. Gallaher" <gallaher@HSC.USC.EDU> writes:

> I don't know that these discussions are worth getting upset over-

For the record, my blood pressure is normal or below, and I have the

utmost respect for Nicholas. I intend passion, because the blood

pumps in me for these many years in tune with the text I'm describing,

yet I mean no offense to anyone here.

> Anyhow, pointing out typos is of interest to me and probably most of us.

> I wonder how many typos are in Visions of Cody? Or Dr. Sax?

Let me say once again - I don't regard what I have described as a simple

typo. Think of Wagner's Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin, how sombre and

moving without feet it is. Now imagine in the center of all that

welling up high eternity and drama in the dusk a strumming silly banjo

doing two bars of fractured Lady of Spain.

Now think of nobody in the audience, nor the conductor, nor the

critics, nor god even, noticing. One voice crying in the woods,

the work's debased! And it's like a lone tree falling....

See?

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Date: Sat, 16 Sep 1995 06:45:31 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: "James D. Barger" <CoolMadman@AOL.COM>

Subject: Re: Big Sur

In a message dated 95-09-15 17:26:38 EDT, you write:

>I agree with Kerouac's own assessment; he was a wordslinger, not an

>idea man, and what he had to say was in the diction, and not in the

>doings. In fact, _Big Sur_ is the history of a fairly common alcoholic

>breakdown, less the prosody. It is the telling, more than the tale.

YES! Yes, yes, yes!

It is in the telling. The journey IS the destination. The journey of words

is the thing.

James Barger

=========================================================================

Date: Sat, 16 Sep 1995 10:46:12 EST

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: "Heeg, Michael" <mheeg@SMTPINET.ASPENSYS.COM>

Subject: Re: Big Sur

I couldn't agree with you more, the errors , typographical, are

meaningless, the real essence of these books are the meaning within,

how or what does reading this particular text move you. It's the

ability for you to see things in a way that you might not normally

see. I have , also, read Dharma Bums, Big Sur, Go , and others and

have noticed errors, but that doesn't effect me. By the way, has J.C.

Holmes written anything that might be worth reading, besides GO? It

is interesting to read , for example Road and Go , and compare these

two pieces of literature since the detail a lot of the same people and

activities, but in an entirely differenr light.

michael

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________

Subject: Big Sur

Author: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> at SMTPINET

Date: 9/15/95 4:08 PM