Voice of the Poet: Allen Ginsberg [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Allen Ginsberg (Author, Reader)

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

Hearing Ginsberg is the way to know Ginsberg, the most well-known poet of the Beats. His questioning, analysis, and forgiveness of human frailty are fully heard as he calls out his indictments. Drunkenness! Ashcan rantings! Cigarettes in boxcars, boxcars, boxcars. To hear Ginsberg name emotions and experiences is a warm mosaic of poetic immersion. The lilting twang of the way he pronounces "love," the satisfied way he says "kabala" will make the cosmos vibrate at your feet. Ginsberg's poetry is about pronouncements, and this recording captures their joyful spirit. Ginsburg roars, chants, and recites with a bard's presence. R.F. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Random House Audio Voices (March 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739308025
• ISBN-13: 978-0739308028
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,502,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ginsberg reads Ginsberg, April 9, 2004

By 

Celia Redmore "Celia Redmore" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Voice of the Poet: Allen Ginsberg (Audio CD)

This volume in the "Voice of the Poet" series is a true luxury. The sound quality on the CD is excellent and "White Shroud" is performed to music by Steven Taylor. Nobody reads Ginsberg better than Ginsberg.

The collection contains twelve poems written over the course of the poet's life. The earliest, "Song", was written in 1954, a year before "Howl", the poem that made Ginsberg (in)famous and later resulted in his publisher being arrested for obscenity.

In his later years, he saw the world turn full circle back to the grey, censorious society he had raged against in the 1950's. "After Lalon", written in 1992, mourns a life squandered on "pretty words." Perhaps that is all any poet can do, cast a feeble light in the gloom.

Ginsberg performed all twelve poems in full at the Knitting Factory in 1995:

* Song (1954)
* Howl (1955 - 1956)
* Footnote to Howl (1955)
* A Supermarket in California (1955)
* Sunflower Mantra (1955)
* My Sad Self (1958)
* Wales Visitation (1967)
* Sad Dust Glories (1974)
* Plutonium Ode (1978)
* White Shroud (1983)
* Personals Ad (1987)
* After Lalon (1992)

Professor Allen Ginsberg of Brooklyn College, New York, died in 1997.