>world sales. Thanks again to Michael for correcting me. I'll be kick me in

>the ass and thump my ears. See ya'll.

>Ron "Rollo" Whitehead  5/24/96  7:03PM

>

>Without a doubt he is one of the best poets and also a real nice guy. I

have met him several times at the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival. If

anyone out there hasn't read "Canticle of Jack Kerouac" I highly recommend

it. It is my favorite of his and he is my favorite poet. Has anyone heard

how his health is? I heard he had a bypass operation. Phil

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

Date:         Sat, 25 May 1996 11:15:10 -0400

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

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

From:         Ron Whitehead <RWhiteBone@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Ferlinghetti's health

 

Hello Phil & anyone else interested in Lawrence Ferlinghetti's health. Spring

'95 I visited with Lawrence for 3 days at Univ of Charleston, West Virginia.

He had spell with heart then. In NYC at NYU's Jack Kerouac Symposium, June

'95, Lawrence had several spells with heart but refused to see doctor. Upon

return to San Francisco heart spells intensifying he visited his physician

who rushed him to hospital saying it was almost too late & a wonder he'd made

this long. Touch & go for a while but Lawrence rebounded like a kid and by

August when I visited him in San Francisco he was already working out with

Nancy Peters, moving at furious pace doing final editing on City Lights'

Anthology, & looking at least 95% back to full throttle. Talked with him

several times over phone & could sense energy returning then visited with him

early this month in D.C. & he's back to 110% kicking ass taking the heat the

flack the lonely voiced criticism of him being a shrewd businessman bullshit

& proving through his poetry (reading at National Portrait Gallery with

Ginsberg, Corso, McClure, Creeley, Amram, etc) & his open friendly &

supportive attitude towards newcomers & oldcomers that he is (despite

mistakes he's made & despite criticism attempting to stone him out of inner

Beat circle) one of the truly great humanitarian individualists & poets in

this beaten down ramshackled world. Lawrence is in Italy now until June

seeing to opening(s) of art exhibition at Palazzo Delle Espofizione (The

Museum of Modern Art in Rome). Thanks for asking!

Later, Ron Whitehead 5/25/96  10:53PM

P.S. World Premiere of 57-minute documentary on Lawrence Ferlinghetti by

Chris Felver (along with release celebration of Chris' new book of photograph

portraits of famous poets & writers. Coppola has had hand in production of

documentary) will be held at

big event in New Orleans I'm producing August 16-18 called: RANT for the

literary renaissance & The Majic Bus present RANT eats New Orleans 48-Hour

Non-Stop Music & Poetry INSOMNIACATHON Aug 16-18 at The Howlin Wolf Club &

The New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center. Actually looks like may be

57-hours. Event will feature numerous old & new voices poets writers

musicians bands including Diane di Prima, Ed Sanders, Robert Creeley,

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, David Amram, Andrei Codrescu, John Rechy, E. Ethelbert

Miller, Jay McInerney, Mike Watt & band, Pere Ubu, Lee Ranaldo, Yo La Tengo,

Richard Hell, Robert Palmer, Julian Bond, Todd Colby, Brenda Coultas, Leah

Singer, The Black Pig Liberation Front, Louis Bickett & The Cultural Mud Man,

Frank Messina & Spoken Motion, The Amazing Chan Klan, Marsallis Family,

Ishmael Reed, John Sinclair, Ramblin Jack Elliott, Dennis Formento, Kalamu

Yasalaam, Arthur Pfister, & numerous others plus special guest appearances

plus SPECIAL ERECTION CEREMONY OF HISTORIC MARKER AT WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

ALGERS HOME. CORPSE (formerly EXQUISITE CORPSE) devoting entire issue to

INSOMNIACATHON. TRIBE magazine promoting event plus devoting entire August

issue to event. COMPOST magazine (Boston, NYC) devoting entire issue to

Ferlinghetti based round/on event.

I'm doing booking for performers now & will be completely done no later than

June 15th (headed to New Orleans immediately following Sunday reading.

meeting with Douglas Brinkley, Lee Lavere, TRIBE, CORPSE). Any questions bout

performance or event give me a holler at RWhiteBone@aol.com or 502-568-4956.

Ron

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

Date:         Sat, 25 May 1996 09:25:20 -0600

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

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

From:         Peter Scott <scottp@MOONDOG.USASK.CA>

Subject:      Re: Ferlinghetti's health

In-Reply-To:  <960525111510_203808230@emout18.mail.aol.com>

 

In your message you mention that John Rechy will be at INSOMNIACATHON.

His "City of Night" is still one of my favourite books of the period.

What is he up to now?

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

Date:         Sat, 25 May 1996 20:17:08 -0400

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

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

From:         Kathleen Kennedy <kk30@CORNELL.EDU>

Subject:      unsubscribe

 

Please cancel my subscription to this listserv.

Thanks

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

Date:         Sun, 26 May 1996 20:23:43 -0400

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

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

From:         CMJ <Forza@CRIS.COM>

Subject:      Testing

 

forza@concentric.net

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

Date:         Mon, 27 May 1996 00:08:33 -0400

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

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

From:         "Christopher D. Ritter" <corduroy@DONET.COM>

Organization: Corduroy's Coffeehouse

Subject:      Test

 

__________

.........| ____________________________

.o..o..o.|

.........|    CORDUROY'S COFFEEHOUSE

--------.|        & literary cafe

 ==|_|  ||

==[===] || http://www.serve.com/Critter

  |___| ||

--------.|    christopher d. ritter

..KRUPS..|     corduroy@donet.com

.........| ____________________________

 ========

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

Date:         Mon, 27 May 1996 09:35:11 -0400

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

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

From:         Howard Park <Hpark4@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: Ferlinghetti's health

 

For what its worth, I thought Lawrence Ferlingetti looked great at the Rebel

Poets symposium in Wash DC last month.  I've seen him a few times before,

often he seemed sort of bothered and generally pissed off.  Not last month!

 He seemed real relaxed and moved witth as much as can be expected for a

fellow of his age.  Long may his light burn!

 

Howard Park

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

Date:         Mon, 27 May 1996 12:14:01 -0400

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

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

From:         "Christopher D. Ritter" <corduroy@DONET.COM>

Organization: Corduroy's Coffeehouse

Subject:      Requested Information on the Avant-Liste

 

It's been awhile since I've been able to do anything with

the Inet, but I have information that a few people were asking

for. Hopefully this isn't out of place too much.

 

     The Avant-Liste: Through the Large Looking Glass

     -------------------===========------------------

 

The Avant-Listserve is now up and running, ready to receive

the masses of pseudo-intellectuals jonesing for a heated debate

on the progressive arts. From poetry to prose, drama and cinema,

nothing is left unscrutinized! Join us with a digital demitasse-

full of your favorite bean fluid and bring your work! Not only

do we discuss the masters of art and literature, but we also

share our own! (Pre-teen angst poets and little love couplet

writers need not apply.)

 

To subscribe to the Avant-Liste, simply send a message to:

 

                listproc@list.serve.com

 

With the following message in the body (and NO subject):

 

           subscribe avant-liste [your name]

 

If you have any questions on the nature of the list or anything

else, please contact the list owner, christopher ritter.

 

                                        ..Critter

--

__________      CORDUROY'S COFFEEHOUSE

.........|         & literary cafe

.o..o..o.| - http://www.serve.com/Critter -

.........|

--------.|       christopher d. ritter

 ==|_|  ||      - corduroy@donet.com -

==[===] ||

  |___| ||       - The Avant-Liste -

--------.|  To subscribe send a message to:

..KRUPS..|      listproc@list.serve.com

.........| With no subject, in the body type:

 ========   SUBSCRIBE AVANT-LISTE [YOUR NAME]

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

Date:         Tue, 28 May 1996 13:09:54 -0400

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

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

From:         DAVID W MYERS <dwm3766@MAILER.FSU.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Ferlinghetti's health

Comments: cc: Multiple recipients of list BEAT-L

          <BEAT-L%CUNYVM@listserv.cuny.edu>

In-Reply-To:  <960527093511_204667835@emout13.mail.aol.com>

 

Hello group,

 

I'm new to this list, and I have a (possibly) naive question to ask.

 

Does anyone know of an annotated version of On the Road? I am interested

in making an index of places, characters, events, etc. in OTR for the

use of scholars or general readership.

 

I understand it is unusual to index a work of fiction. But because

Kerouac modelled his fiction so closely on his real life I think this may

be a useful finding aid for scholars and others searching for quotes,

story lines, or anything else needed for an essay or article.

 

I would love to hear some comments about this idea.

 

 

David Myers

School of Library and Information Science

Florida State University

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

Date:         Tue, 28 May 1996 13:49:39 -0400

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

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

From:         Ron Whitehead <RWhiteBone@AOL.COM>

Subject:      annotated Joyce & Kerouac

 

Hello David Myers & anyone else interested in Annotated Kerouac. The new A

Jack Kerouac ROMnibus includes annotations to works (i.e. The Dharma Bums) &

in a way is itlself an annotation to the life of Jack Kerouac. As to an

Annotated On the Road (as in annotated like James Joyce's work for use by

students scholars & other interested peoples outside the Ivory Tower of

Academia) check with David Stanford, Senior Editor, Viking Penguin, 375

Hudson Street, 4th Floor, NY NY 10014.

All the Best, Ron Whitehead  RWhiteBone@aol.com  5/28/96  1:49PM

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

Date:         Tue, 28 May 1996 13:31:46 -0500

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

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

From:         "P.G. Springer" <hloosn8@PRAIRIENET.ORG>

Subject:      23

In-Reply-To:  <Pine.SUN.3.91.960528125650.20122A-100000@mailer.fsu.edu>

 

Where can I find William Burroughs' explanation of his use (and the power

of) the number "23"?  I also recall reading some encyclopedia of

mysticism (by Colin Wilson?) on the subject of the number 23.  Anybody

know these references?

 

Born on the 23rd of July,

 

PGS

 

 

"To be great is to be misunderstood." -- Emerson

"Self-knowledge is always bad news." -- Barth

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

Date:         Tue, 28 May 1996 15:12:47 -0400

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

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

From:         Neil Hennessy <nhenness@UWATERLOO.CA>

Subject:      Re: 23

 

> Where can I find William Burroughs' explanation of his use (and the power

> of) the number "23"?

 

In Jennie Skerl's book she mentions that she asked Burroughs if the

number 23 had any special significance and he said, "No, it's just a

number." Not sure about the page number, but you can probably find it in

the index or something.

 

The most frequent use I've ever seen of the number 23 was in the Dead

Star magazine. The entire story revolved around the number 23 showing up

as the day Dutch Schultz died, the number of casualties in a plane crash,

number of victims in an earthquake. Burroughs includes pictures of the

newspaper headlines and articles with the number 23 underlined so you can

see that he wasn't making it up. Of course there is the language virus

B-23 that one sees extensively in his work. But B-23 also mutates into a

sexual virus in Blade Runner: A Movie. It seems Burroughs chose an

arbitrary number that kept showing up with unusual frequency in horrible

situations. 23 is the number of doom. And of course once you recognise a

number as special, you will take note of it every time it comes up.

 

Good Luck finding any more info. That's the only mention of it I can

remember.

 

Cheers,

Neil

 

"At guard from North Carolina, Number 23, Michael Jordan"

                                         Chicago Bulls announcer

 

PS Here is the biblio info for The Dead Star:

 

The Dead Star

Nova Broadcast Press, San Francisco, 1969.

 

I found it in the rare book room of The University of Waterloo library. I

don't imagine you would find it anywhere but a rare book collection.

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

Date:         Tue, 28 May 1996 19:43:18 -0400

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

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

From:         CMJ <Forza@CRIS.COM>

Subject:      Testing, again:)

 

Timothy Leary is dying, and I don't feel very good myself...

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

Date:         Wed, 29 May 1996 02:09:51 GMT

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

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

From:         "s. mark johnson" <smark@NYC.PIPELINE.COM>

Subject:      Re: 23

Comments: To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List"

          <BEAT-L%CUNYVM.BITNET@vm.its.rpi.edu>

 

On May 28, 1996 15:12:47, 'Neil Hennessy <nhenness@UWATERLOO.CA>' wrote:

 

 

>. 23 is the number of doom. And of course once you recognise a

>number as special, you will take note of it every time it comes up.

>

>Good Luck finding any more info. That's the only mention of it I can

>remember.

>

>Cheers,

>Neil

>

>"At guard from North Carolina, Number 23, Michael Jordan"

 

 

Don't forget "23 skidoo," a "hip" saying from the twenties and the title of

a performance art piece co-produced by Burroughs years ago in NYC.  Mark J

>Chicago Bulls announcer

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

Date:         Tue, 28 May 1996 22:38:49 -0400

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

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

From:         nappodd2 <nappodd2@ALPHA.SHIANET.ORG>

Subject:      Kerouac's picaresque novels

 

Hello everyone,

        I'm new to this Beat list, but I'm really excited about talking with

all of you about some of the best best writers and poets this country has

yet produced.  I study quite a bit of Spanish and Spanish American

literature; given that, I've been very interested in an apocryphal statement

of Kerouac's where he claimed that "all of my novels are really picaresque

novels"--or something like that.  He may have said it towards the end of his

life.  Does anyone know about it or where I could find it?

        Best,

Dan Nappo

 

ps.  I sent this letter out earlier this week, but because of some computer

glitches, I never received and responses--in fact, I'm not even sure it was

mailed.  If you've read this before, please be patient with a computer

semi-literate.

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

Date:         Tue, 28 May 1996 23:09:31 -0400

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

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

From:         Phil Chaput <Philzi@TIAC.NET>

Subject:      Re: Kerouac's picaresque novels

 

At 10:38 PM 5/28/96 -0400, you wrote:

>Hello everyone,

>        I'm new to this Beat list, but I'm really excited about talking with

>all of you about some of the best best writers and poets this country has

>yet produced.  I study quite a bit of Spanish and Spanish American

>literature; given that, I've been very interested in an apocryphal statement

>of Kerouac's where he claimed that "all of my novels are really picaresque

>novels"--or something like that.  He may have said it towards the end of his

>life.  Does anyone know about it or where I could find it?

>

He said it and meant it! All his novels deal with picaresque(dealing with

sharpwited vagabonds and there rougish adventures) What could be more

Kerowakian than that. That statment was not apocryphal YOU ARE APOCRYPHAL!

Kerouac is the teller of truths he wasn't a lier he was a man of God.

  His beleives that

                     Wild men who kill

                     have karmas of ill

                     Good men who love

                     have karmas of dove

 

 

 

 

 

 

>Dan Nappo

>

>ps.  I sent this letter out earlier this week, but because of some computer

>glitches, I never received and responses--in fact, I'm not even sure it was

>mailed.  If you've read this before, please be patient with a computer

>semi-literate.

>

>

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

Date:         Wed, 29 May 1996 06:12:39 EDT

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

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

From:         Marcus Williamson <71333.1665@COMPUSERVE.COM>

Subject:      Number 23

 

See :

 

http://www.impropaganda.com/~street/detour/23.html

 

For the following info plus more about the number

23.

 

regards

Marcus

 

Burrough's 23 Enigma

 

In the early '60's in Tangier, William

Burroughs knew a certain Captain

Clark who ran a ferry from Tangier

to Spain. One day, Clark said to

Burroughs that he'd been running

the ferry 23 years without an

accident. That very day the ferry

sank, killing Clark and everybody

aboard. In the evening, Burroughs

was thinking about this when he

turned on the radio. The first

newscast told about the crash of

an airline plane on the New

York-Miami route. The pilot was

another Captain Clark and the

flight was listed as Flight 23 (ala

the line "Captain Clark welcomes

you aboard,")

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

Date:         Wed, 29 May 1996 07:50:45 -0600

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

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

From:         Jon Schwartz <JBS@UWYO.EDU>

Subject:      Re: 23

 

I *think* the origin of the 23 as a "charged" number with odd significance,

usign the examples below originated in the conspiracy free-for-all trilogy

by Robert Anton Wilson and a co-author known as the Illuminatus trilogy,

circa 1970's.  At least, that's where I first read about it.

 

Jon Schwartz

jbs@uwyo.edu

 

>

>> Where can I find William Burroughs' explanation of his use (and the power

>> of) the number "23"?

>

>In Jennie Skerl's book she mentions that she asked Burroughs if the

>number 23 had any special significance and he said, "No, it's just a

>number." Not sure about the page number, but you can probably find it in

>the index or something.

>

>The most frequent use I've ever seen of the number 23 was in the Dead

>Star magazine. The entire story revolved around the number 23 showing up

>as the day Dutch Schultz died, the number of casualties in a plane crash,

>number of victims in an earthquake. Burroughs includes pictures of the

>newspaper headlines and articles with the number 23 underlined so you can

>see that he wasn't making it up. Of course there is the language virus

>B-23 that one sees extensively in his work. But B-23 also mutates into a

>sexual virus in Blade Runner: A Movie. It seems Burroughs chose an

>arbitrary number that kept showing up with unusual frequency in horrible

>situations. 23 is the number of doom. And of course once you recognise a

>number as special, you will take note of it every time it comes up.

>

>Good Luck finding any more info. That's the only mention of it I can

>remember.

>

>Cheers,

>Neil

>

>"At guard from North Carolina, Number 23, Michael Jordan"

>                                         Chicago Bulls announcer

>

>PS Here is the biblio info for The Dead Star:

>

>The Dead Star

>Nova Broadcast Press, San Francisco, 1969.

>

>I found it in the rare book room of The University of Waterloo library. I

>don't imagine you would find it anywhere but a rare book collection.

>

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

Date:         Wed, 29 May 1996 10:12:58 -0400

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

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

From:         Kristen VanRiper <pooh@IMAGEEK.YORK.CUNY.EDU>

Subject:      Re: 23

In-Reply-To:  <199605290209.CAA15032@pipe2.t2.usa.pipeline.com> from "s. mark

              johnson" at May 29, 96 02:09:51 am

 

> >. 23 is the number of doom. And of course once you recognise a

> >number as special, you will take note of it every time it comes up.

> >

> >Good Luck finding any more info. That's the only mention of it I can

> >remember.

> >

> >Cheers,

> >Neil

> >

> >"At guard from North Carolina, Number 23, Michael Jordan"

>

>

> Don't forget "23 skidoo," a "hip" saying from the twenties and the title of

> a performance art piece co-produced by Burroughs years ago in NYC.  Mark J

> >Chicago Bulls announcer

 

in jitterbug perfume.....K23.....and timothy leary may be leaving this

world, but tis a far far better place he is going.....you don't need

america online to be connected....

 

read some of "women" the other day in that decadent barnes and noble on

66th and broadway....felt so touched by this man that i cried...i pity

the women who find his truth offensive....i see the women in this

book....i was a woman in this book....i am now a woman the likes of which i

have never known, but i remember the pain in the lack of

communication.....very touching.....

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

Date:         Wed, 29 May 1996 16:10:55 -0400

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

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

From:         Phil Chaput <Philzi@TIAC.NET>

Subject:      Re: Kerouac's picaresque novels

 

At 11:09 PM 5/28/96 -0400, you wrote:

>At 10:38 PM 5/28/96 -0400, you wrote:

>>Hello everyone,

>>        I'm new to this Beat list, but I'm really excited about talking with

>>all of you about some of the best best writers and poets this country has

>>yet produced.  I study quite a bit of Spanish and Spanish American

>>literature; given that, I've been very interested in an apocryphal statement

>>of Kerouac's where he claimed that "all of my novels are really picaresque

>>novels"--or something like that.  He may have said it towards the end of his

>>life.  Does anyone know about it or where I could find it?

>>

>He said it and meant it! All his novels deal with picaresque(dealing with

>sharpwited vagabonds and there rougish adventures) What could be more

>Kerowakian than that. That statment was not apocryphal YOU ARE APOCRYPHAL!

>Kerouac is the teller of truths he wasn't a lier he was a man of God.

>  His beleives that

>                     Wild men who kill

>                     have karmas of ill

>                     Good men who love

>                     have karmas of dove

>

>Hope you didn't take this seriously WELCOME TO THE LIST. P.C.

>

>

>

>

>>Dan Nappo

>>

>>ps.  I sent this letter out earlier this week, but because of some computer

>>glitches, I never received and responses--in fact, I'm not even sure it was

>>mailed.  If you've read this before, please be patient with a computer

>>semi-literate.

>>

>>

>

>

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

Date:         Wed, 29 May 1996 18:07:35 -0400

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

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

From:         "W. Luther Jett" <MagenDror@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: 23

 

>I *think* the origin of the 23 as a "charged" number with odd >significance,

using the examples below originated in the >conspiracy free-for-all trilogy

by Robert Anton Wilson and a >co-author known as the Illuminatus trilogy,

circa 1970's.  At >least, that's where I first read about it.

 

Me too, however Burroughs' interest in the number dates back farther. There

was a brief thread several months ago here on this topic. I can't find the

original message(s), but the gist of it is that while Burroughs was in

Tangier, he ran across a newspaper article about a grisly murder which

occurred at a place with the street number 23. Several days later, he found

another article, this one, I believe, about a shipwreck, and the birthdate of

the ship's captain was the 23rd. {I may have some of theses details a bit

garbled, but hopefully you get the idea.) He began collecting occurrences of

the number 23, and, as Neil Hennessey points out: "once you recognise a

number as special, you will take note of it every time it comes up."

 

Incidentally, 23 is a prime number, its integers, 2 & 3, are considered to

have mystical significance in their own right, and they add up to five, also

considered a mystical number, and the base of our arithmetic system besides.

 

Luther Jett

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 14:34:22 +0200

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

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

From:         Tony Camaiani <tony.c@RINASCITA.IT>

Subject:      Beat in Italy

Comments: To: BEAT-L%CUNYVM.bitnet@ICINECA.CINECA.IT

 

Hi Everybody,

I am an Italian Guy ang I have read about This Mailinglist

on a Newspaper(called Musica)

I have read something of Jack Kerouac and I wanto to ask

you some material about Him (some Poems ...and other)

Or some interessant URL

Thank to all

           ______   ____  ___  ______  ___

          /      \ /    \ |  \|  |\  \/  /

          \__  __/|  ~   ||      | \    /

            |__|   \____/ |__|\__|  |__| ... ON Z BEACH

                       ~ Camaiani Antonio ~

        - tony.c@rinascita.it -- camaiani@cs.unibo.it  -

                   - www.cs.unibo.it/~camaiani -

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 08:00:05 -0500

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

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

From:         JoAnn Ruvoli <jruvoli@ORION.IT.LUC.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Beat in Italy

In-Reply-To:  <9605301234.AA01069@cygnus.rinascita.it>

 

Hello all,

I've been reading the Joan Baez memoir "And a VOice to Sing With."

Has anyone else read it?  It reminds me of other memoirs of the women

Beats that I have read (How I became Hettie JOnes, and Minor Characters),

and I was wondering if anyone has read other books or articles linking

Baez to the Beat movement.... say, like they (whoever they are) link Bob

Dylan to the Beat movement.  I've seen Bob in anthologies, but not Joan...

 

Just curious.  Any thoughts?

JoAnne

jruvoli@orion.it.luc.edu

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 09:20:19 -0400

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

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

From:         Neil Hennessy <nhenness@UWATERLOO.CA>

Subject:      Number 23

 

On Wed, 29 May 1996 18:07:35 -0400 "W. Luther Jett" <MagenDror@AOL.com>

wrote:

 

> Incidentally, 23 is a prime number, its integers, 2 & 3, are considered to

> have mystical significance in their own right, and they add up to

> five,  also

> considered a mystical number, and the base of our arithmetic system

> besides.

 

Last time I checked our number system was base 10.

Neil

 

"I'm literary, I take math to mortify myself."

                                    J.P. Sartre

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 09:30:32 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: Beat in Italy

In-Reply-To:  Message of Thu, 30 May 1996 14:34:22 +0200 from

              <tony.c@RINASCITA.IT>

 

I suggest that you read On The Road to begin with.  You might also check

variousanthologies and books translated by Nanda Pivano.

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 09:26:27 -0400

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

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

From:         Neil Hennessy <nhenness@UWATERLOO.CA>

Subject:      Joan Baez

 

You might want to try posting this question to the rec.music.dylan

newsgroup. Baez doesn't have one of her own, but this newsgroup is filled

with people who have heard tons of duets at least. Baez would have know

Ginsberg since he was hanging around Dylan from the mid-60's all the

way through to the mid-70's. Ginsberg plays a wonderful part as "The

Father" in Dylan's much maligned opus "Renaldo & Clara" in which Baez

plays a lousy part as "The Woman in White". The judgement of Baez's

role does not necessarily reflect poorly on her, but perhaps on Dylan's

use of her and choice of footage including her.

 

Cheers,

Neil

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 09:50:32 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: Beat in Italy

 

A major photo exhibition of Jack Keroauc and Lowell will be opening in

Milan in the next couple of weeks. This should provide a good

introduction. I'll have to find the details. By the way, the exhibit will

be in Lowell during the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Festival.

 

Mark Hemenway

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!, Inc

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 15:51:07 -0500

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

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

From:         Yossef Mendelssohn <citizenx@MAIL.PHOENIX.NET>

Subject:      Re: Number 23

 

At 09:20 AM 5/30/96 -0400, you wrote:

>On Wed, 29 May 1996 18:07:35 -0400 "W. Luther Jett" <MagenDror@AOL.com>

>wrote:

>

>> Incidentally, 23 is a prime number, its integers, 2 & 3, are considered to

>> have mystical significance in their own right, and they add up to

>> five,  also

>> considered a mystical number, and the base of our arithmetic system

>> besides.

>

>Last time I checked our number system was base 10.

>Neil

>

okay, okay. You have a point there; our number system is base 10. But last

time I checked, I had two hands with five fingers each.  In a way, five is

the base of our number system.

 

-yossef

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 17:52:20 -0400

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

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

From:         "W. Luther Jett" <MagenDror@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: That magic number, 23

 

>Last time I checked our number system was base 10.

>Neil

 

Okay, so math was never my strong-point.

 

I guess I was thinking that in the anthropological sense, people probably

started counting their fingers, and there are five fingers on each hand (and

five toes on each foot, leading one to wonder why we don't compute in Base

20).

 

Luther Jett

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 17:51:47 -0600

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

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

From:         George Morrone <gmorrone@PROLOG.NET>

Subject:      Re: Number 23 (Maybe its just a coincidence, but... )

 

May it IS just a coincidence, but...

 

On August 23:

 

The St. Bartholomew's Massacre occured in 1572

Rudolph Valentino died in 1926

Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in 1927

The Nazi-Soviet pact was signed in 1939; WWII started one week later

I was born in 1949

Yusef Hawkins was killed in Brooklyn, 1989

 

George

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

Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 18:31:43 -0400

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

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

From:         CMJ <Forza@CRIS.COM>

Subject:      Dylan? A Beat?

Comments: To: BEAT-L@cunyvm.cuny.edu.

 

Hi, all:

 

I'd like anyone and everyone's opinion as to Bob's being considered a

Beat. I believe Ann Charters has a couple of his poems (songs) in her

anthology.  IMHO, I believe he should be considered a Beat. I welcome any

response on this. If one considers Bob, then I suppose Joan must also be

considered, but with this consideration of both of them, politics plays a

hefty role.

 

Also, if you haven't checked out Tim Leary's new web page, take the time

to do it, if you're so inclined.  He has expanded the whole site, also

including "chat rooms" where people go in and talk on-line.  There is one

topic room devoted only to Kerouac and the Beats. Browsers are encouraged

to open up their own "topics", etc. Very interesting.

 

Chris

forza@concentric.net

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 11:38:55 +0100

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

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

From:         "m.d.fascione" <m.d.fascione@CITY.AC.UK>

Subject:      Re: Dylan? A Beat? (fwd)

 

Check out Dylan's movie 'Renaldo & Clara' puts Dylan right on the beat map!

 

Daniel

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 10:11:41 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: Dylan? A Beat?

In-Reply-To:  Message of Thu, 30 May 1996 18:31:43 -0400 from <Forza@CRIS.COM>

 

Dylan certainly isn't a member of the Beat Generation as such.  He is

too young to be part of the original group.  But he was strongly

influenced by the Beats, particularly by Kerouac and Ginsberg.  He also

shares an interest with those whoinfluenced Kerouac & Ginsberg -- like

Rimbaud and the Surrealists.  During the 1960s he shared the same turf

with some of the Beats -- the Village Coffee housesand cafes.  Dylan is

close to the Beats for poetic reasons.  Phil Ochs and Joan Baez shared

political concerns with Allen Ginsberg, particularly in terms of their

opposition to the Vietnam War.  I like to call Dylan and those who were

influenced by the Beats "New Beats."

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 10:53:11 -0400

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

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

From:         Kristen VanRiper <pooh@IMAGEEK.YORK.CUNY.EDU>

Subject:      Re: Number 23

In-Reply-To:  <199605302051.PAA08206@mail.phoenix.net> from "Yossef

              Mendelssohn" at May 30, 96 03:51:07 pm

 

> >> have mystical significance in their own right, and they add up to

> >> five,  also

> >> considered a mystical number, and the base of our arithmetic system

> >> besides.

> >

> >Last time I checked our number system was base 10.

> >Neil

> >

> okay, okay. You have a point there; our number system is base 10. But last

> time I checked, I had two hands with five fingers each.  In a way, five is

> the base of our number system.

>

> -yossef

>

 

e = 2.7182...

pi = 3.14....

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 08:17:47 -0700

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

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

From:         Jonathan Kratter <jonkrat@NUEVA.PVT.K12.CA.US>

Subject:      Re: Number 23

In-Reply-To:  <199605311453.KAA16976@imageek.york.cuny.edu>

 

Actually, five is not the base of our number system.  I hate to be

pedantic, but the number system is not based on five, but on ten, because

after the ninth digit, we add another digit-place, and that's how you

determine what a number system is based on - how many numbers it takes to

add another digit.  So our number system is not based on five.  If it

were, we'd count like

 

1

2

3

4

11      -this equals five in base ten

12      -six

13      -seven, etc...

14

20

21

22

23

24

30

 

Eternally Dreaming,

jonathan

 

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

Jonathan Kratter, Dreamer

 

        "Fantasies are the sugar with which you take the bitter medicine

        of life."

 

On Fri, 31 May 1996, Kristen VanRiper wrote:

 

> > >> have mystical significance in their own right, and they add up to

> > >> five,  also

> > >> considered a mystical number, and the base of our arithmetic system

> > >> besides.

> > >

> > >Last time I checked our number system was base 10.

> > >Neil

> > >

> > okay, okay. You have a point there; our number system is base 10. But last

> > time I checked, I had two hands with five fingers each.  In a way, five is

> > the base of our number system.

> >

> > -yossef

> >

>

> e = 2.7182...

> pi = 3.14....

>

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 10:59:18 -0700

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:      Tim Leary Passes away

 

Tim Leary died today.

 

In his book Flashbacks he describes his only bad trip (or at least his first

one or the only one he would admit to) as being the one with Kerouac.

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 11:19:26 -0700

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

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

From:         Jonathan Kratter <jonkrat@NUEVA.PVT.K12.CA.US>

Subject:      Leary?

 

Tim died?  His website said he was feeling fine and his cancer seemed to

be in remission...he was supposed to have a large cybercast of his death,

but his website won't respond when I try to access it...what happened?

 

        upset,

        jonathan

 

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

Jonathan Kratter, Dreamer

 

        "Fantasies are the sugar with which you take the bitter medicine

        of life."

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 14:28:29 -0700

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:      Re: Leary?

 

At 11:19 AM 5/31/96 -0700, you wrote:

>Tim died?  His website said he was feeling fine and his cancer seemed to

>be in remission...he was supposed to have a large cybercast of his death,

>but his website won't respond when I try to access it...what happened?

>

>        upset,

>        jonathan

>

>=========================

>Jonathan Kratter, Dreamer

 

My guess is the website is very crowded after the news.

 

I heard the news on KFI (a local LA station) driving in to work this morning.

 

The report said he had friends and family by his side.

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 11:49:58 -0700

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

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

From:         Jonathan Kratter <jonkrat@NUEVA.PVT.K12.CA.US>

Subject:      Cosmic!

 

Today, on May 31st, 1996, just after midnight, Timothy Leary passed

away.  He was seventy five years old.  He died in his bedroom surrounded

by close friends.  His last words were "why not?" and "yeah."

 

        Interesting, isn't it, that he died just after midnight?  Almsot

as if he was hanging on until today.  Well, I looked, and, believe it or

not, May 31st is Walt Whitman's birthday.  Walt Whitman, of course, is

whom both Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg (both friends of Leary)

referred to as the "original beat"...cosmic, isn't it?

 

        Eternally Dreaming,

        Jonathan

 

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

Jonathan Kratter, Dreamer

 

        "Fantasies are the sugar with which you take the bitter medicine

        of life."

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 15:46:18 -0400

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

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

From:         Howard Park <Hpark4@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Re: Dylan? A Beat? (fwd)

 

I don't mean to be disagreeable but I'm just a little tired of the "who is a

beat" discussions -- Bukowski? Kesey? Dylan? Charlie Parker? Trochhi? Jerry

Garcia? Dylan?

Abbie Hoffman? Tim Leary? Norman Mailer?

 

On one hand purists insist that to be beat ment that one had to be present at

Columbia U on such and such a date or Tangier, or San Francisco in 1956, or

somewhere else, and partied or read/wrote with the "big three".  Others

consider everyone who ever read On The Road or meditated with AG a beat.

 Some people take this discussion quite seriously.  I guess its interesting

to know when Dylan read OTR or what he has said about the subject, of course

it is interesting.  What I don't find interesting are the self-appointed

guardians of the label "beat" who take delight in flaming anyone who

disagrees with them.

 

Why can't it suffice to say that these people (fill in the blank) were

greatly influenced by the beats and can use the label if they want.  The term

"beat" is NOT copyrighted by the estate of Jack Kerouac or anyone else.  It

belongs to everybody who wants it - "Believe it if you need it, if you don't

just pass it on" (Robert Hunter).

 

Howard Park

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 18:09:06 -0400

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

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

From:         Phil Chaput <Philzi@TIAC.NET>

Subject:      Re: Dylan? A Beat? (fwd)

 

At 03:46 PM 5/31/96 -0400, you wrote:

>I don't mean to be disagreeable but I'm just a little tired of the "who is a

>beat" discussions -- Bukowski? Kesey? Dylan? Charlie Parker? Trochhi? Jerry

>Garcia? Dylan?

>Abbie Hoffman? Tim Leary? Norman Mailer?

>

>On one hand purists insist that to be beat ment that one had to be present at

>Columbia U on such and such a date or Tangier, or San Francisco in 1956, or

>somewhere else, and partied or read/wrote with the "big three".  Others

>consider everyone who ever read On The Road or meditated with AG a beat.

> Some people take this discussion quite seriously.  I guess its interesting

>to know when Dylan read OTR or what he has said about the subject, of course

>it is interesting.  What I don't find interesting are the self-appointed

>guardians of the label "beat" who take delight in flaming anyone who

>disagrees with them.

>

>Why can't it suffice to say that these people (fill in the blank) were

>greatly influenced by the beats and can use the label if they want.  The term

>"beat" is NOT copyrighted by the estate of Jack Kerouac or anyone else.  It

>belongs to everybody who wants it - "Believe it if you need it, if you don't

>just pass it on" (Robert Hunter).

>

>Howard Park

>

>Jesus Christ was definitely a beat. Nixon was definitely not a beat.

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 21:12:52 -0400

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

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

From:         Ron Whitehead <RWhiteBone@AOL.COM>

Subject:      Howard Park on whose Beat

 

Thanks to Howard Park for breath of fresh air open the windows & doors

comments on whose BEAT! Fall '93 I asked Allen Ginsberg how he felt about Bob

Dylan which prompted a long & fascinating response.  Ron Whitehead

 RWhiteBone@aol.com

5/31/96   9:11PM

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 21:18:27 -0400

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

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

From:         Ron Whitehead <RWhiteBone@AOL.COM>

Subject:      HE WAS A CROOK

 

One of the finest pieces of writing in this fair land is Dr. Hunter S.

Thompson's HE WAS A CROOK (Nixon Obituary. Did Published in Heaven Poster of

this piece with Chris Felver photo of Hunter.) Thank sweet beat Jesus that

Nixon WAS finally beat.

Ron Whitehead

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 21:46:38 -0400

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

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

From:         Ron Whitehead <RWhiteBone@AOL.COM>

Subject:      I WILL NOT BOW DOWN, math, & #23

 

 "I pledge allegiance to fractal geometry

              the geometry of clouds and coastlines

       to 2x2 equalling 5

  I pledge allegiance to Failure

       to failing as no other dare fail

  I pledge allegiance to taking risks

       to holing daring" (from Ron Whitehead's "I Will Not Bow Down")

 

Whitehead was born 11-23-50, Thanksgiving Day, in the midst of the worst

blizzard to ever hit Kentucky. He's had one dramatically "Rolloish"

successful failure after another ever since. What is success? What is

failure?

3 Edgar Cayce trained psychics & 7 astrologers including master Hindu-Vedic

Cayce astrologer Ry Redd (TOWARDS A NEW ASTROLOGY) all concur that they've

never seen such a powerful successful Jupiter as Whitehead's particularly

related to international community of writers artists musicians. They all say

this success should last thru 2016 at which time, aged 66, he will die.

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

Date:         Fri, 31 May 1996 23:05:47 -0400

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

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

From:         nappodd2 <nappodd2@ALPHA.SHIANET.ORG>

Subject:      Beat or no?

 

        The classification of writers into their own groups and movements is

often making something out of nothing.  It can appear arbitrary, as if the

all-mighty custodians of the canon simply decided that undergraduate

literature students needed more terminology to memorize:  the Jena circle,

the Grasmere circle, the Symbolists, the Generacion del 1898, the Beats,

etc.  More than arbitrary, it can seem forced.  Why include William Blake,

for example, among the BIG FIVE English Romantics (Wordsworth, Coleridge,

Keats, and Byron)?  The two who actually knew Blake thought he was a nut.

        On the other hand, I think in the case of "the Beats" (for the sake

of argument let's go with Charters' Portable Reader roll call) the question

of who is and who is not SHOULD be asked--and not simply for the convenience

of anthology editors.  If similarities of style, symbol and theme exist

between writers of a particular time and they are grouped together by a

term, then the determination of them as an important cultural and artistic

development is easier to arrive at.  Strength in numbers.  When you really

think about it, aside from their (short-lived) association at Columbia,

tripping, and the fact they slept with one another, what do the "core"

Beats--Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs--have in common at all?  Did Ginsberg

adopt the "Spontaneous Prose" technique?  Did Kerouac share Ginsberg's

politics?  How much poetry did Burroughs write?  Why is Ginsberg

consistently anthologized and the other two are not (Kerouac was dumped from

the 1984 Norton edition)?  While I believe they were an important cultural

and artistic development, I wonder how frequently the term "Beat" has been

kicked around for commercial rather than literary considerations.  Asking

whether Dylan or Bukowski was Beat is not a meaningless exercise of some

vague hegemony; I think it is an invitation to read the Beats critically,

discover similarities/differences, and make an even stronger case for their

value and greatness.

        In any case, I would think such a line of inquiry would be more

interesting than exhausting interpretations of the number 23 and arguing

whether or not our number system is base 10.

 

Dan Nappo

 

"To act without understanding and to do so habitually without examination,

following certain courses all their lives without knowing the principles

behind them--this is the way of the multitude."

                                                       --Mencius

 



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