Customer Reviews

Deliberate Prose: Selected Essays 1952-1995

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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The totality of this book results in a Ginsberg manifesto, delivered in his own unique prose style, and bursting forth with great honesty and impassioned integrity. Invaluable as a document of the times (roughly late 40s thru early 90s), as a sourcebook for things Beat, as a reference source to Ginsbergian Mind Speak, this book is a major addition to Ginsberg's published work. My only criticism is that it is presented topically, not chronologically as nearly all Ginsberg's published work is, but that is a minor point. This book stands with his best and is certainly his most important publication since 'The Fall of America' in 1972, maybe even since 'Kaddish' in the very early 60s.

It's sad to think the state that America is in right now, with hardly a new voice of reason to combat it. Allen Ginsberg made sense when he wrote and he makes sense now. But has anything changed? In reading what Ginsberg wrote about then and even more recently it seems not so much so. Those who consider themselves in the know might benefit from a new (or renewed) look at this collection.

...but you could say that for the Ginsberg nut, this is a must-have tho not always interesting all the way through. The essay on Whitman is particularly windy, but the above-mentioned line about beard cutting & district attorneys gives an example of Ginsberg at his loony lovegod best.

And there are some paranoid rants, as well as blurry recollections of bad trips & marches & armies of fairies fellating anyone who gets violent w/ war protesters. This book is both spankings & oral sex.

Yes, this is a peak into the mind of Ginsberg. It may be more of a peak into his persona at the time the work was written, whether poet,bluesman, hippie,scholar, political activist etc. What makes it worthwhile are little nuggets found throughout the work which probably were unnoticed by most of us when originally published. I do wish this book had a complete table of contents (pagination) rather than just page numbers listed for the major sections. But, maybe it nudges us to search "on our own."