Customer Reviews

Allen Ginsberg's Buddhist Poetics

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At last, a book on Allen Ginsberg that actually reads his poems closely AND discusses in depth their religious, spiritual, literary, and historical influences.

Trigilio doesn't recycle old anecdotes or ride the wave of Beat mythmaking -- like too many studies of the Beats do. He treats Ginsberg like the experimental poet that he was, and puts his work in the larger context of contemporary American poetry.

It's a challenging book, but Trigilio manages a great balance between "academic style" and "mainstream style." The writing is crisp, clear, and deeply informed by the spiritual and literary traditions that inspired Ginsberg.