Selected Poems: 1947-1995 (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Allen Ginsberg made his mark, along with Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder and others, in the Beat movement, a poetry of social protest that refused perceived elitist boundaries. Tortured by the paranoia and mental illness of his immigrant mother, and by his own homosexuality in a society that was homophobic, Ginsberg's early work was as much a measure of his self-loathing as his detestation of social hypocrisy and injustice. His poems reached depths of humiliation and shame that presaged a mental breakdown, followed by recovery with the help of Buddhist philosophy. His best poetry rises above both personal despair and political propagandizing with satiric comedy, and cheerful self-parody, and is most readily appreciated when read aloud. This volume includes sixty pages of songs, some written in collaboration with Bob Dylan, which are not included in his Collected Poems 1947-1980. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

"This volume," states Ginsberg in a prefatory note, "summarizes what I deem most honest, most penetrant of my writing." Roughly half the size of 1984's Collected Poems (LJ 12/84), the selection is nevertheless massive, spanning pieces written in the poet's early twenties to those written just a year or two ago on the threshold of his seventies, an avalanche of songs, rants, and chants. Never less than engaged ("I want to be the spectacle of Poesy triumphant over the trickery of the world"), Ginsberg unleashes tidal celebrations of homoeroticism, leftist politics, Eastern mysticism, and Beat camaraderie as through he were writing for his life, out to prove?like his mentor Whitman?that there is no sector of consciousness that poetry cannot encompass. His best ("Howl," "Kaddish," "Mugging") shares first-class seats with more impoverished company ("Sphincter," "Hum Bom," "Birdbrain") as if to drive home the point. And that perhaps is the most productive way to approach Ginsberg's canon: as a feverish history of one consciousness in the second half of the 20th century, articulating the moment's raunchy, mortal urgency, leaving nothing out. [For more from Ginsberg, see Illuminated Poems, a collection illustrated by Eric Drooker and recently published by Four Walls Eight Windows.-Ed.]?Fred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib.
-?Fred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 444 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060928549
• ISBN-13: 978-0060928544
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,728,678 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars and the beat goes on... and the beat goes on..., December 13, 1999

By	J. Koscher (Indiana) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are several books out there filled with Ginsbergs ponderings (I've looked at most of them)... so why pick this one? For one... this collection spans 48 years of A. Ginsberg's work. Highlighting poetry that the author selected personally. Sure here you will find the ever famous "Howl", "Sunflower Sutra" and "America" as well as, "Elegy for Neal Cassady" which was written by Ginsberg shortly after hearing of his long time friend's death. However, where many of these sort of books highlight one particular phase the author has gone through (like a gallery showing of only Picasso's blue phase) this tome lets the reader experience the entire Ginsberg. I highly suggest this book for anyone who is interested in getting to know Ginsberg and in experiencing his greatness which spanned over 48 years (longer then his friend Kerouac was on the planet).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Saw the Best Minds of My Generation, May 18, 2002

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Selected Poems 1947-1995 (Hardcover)

It is daunting to undertake the review of a book of Allen Ginsberg's poems. If fact, it is impossible. The extent of his talent, his willingness to experiment, the number of broad themes that run through his work, defy any four-paragraph explication. This collection of poems, selected and edited by Ginsberg himself is really the poet's last oversight of his own life. In four hundred pages covering nearly fifty years we are given not a collection of poetry, but an interior autobiography.

Ginsberg died in 1997, of the complications of Hepatitis C, the same year I discovered that I was suffering from the same disease. His death was untimely, not in the sense that he died too young, but because his creativity, the unique vision that allowed him to be critical, sarcastic, caring and brutally honest had not yet exhausted itself. 'Selected Poems' captures his many facets, from the anger of 'Howl' to the whimsy of 'The Ballad of the Skeletons.' One of my favorites is the simply early 'Song' that opens with "The weight of the world is love." This is the poem that circulated the Internet when he died.

Ginsberg is often perceived as a political or social poet, voicing first the concerns of the Beats and then the Anti-War movement. He is always questioning the motivation of those in authority, and those that were not as well. This collection also explores his open homosexuality and his long spiritual quest. Ginsberg's poetry is himself. For all his technical brilliance, what we remember in the reading is the intensity of his presence in his poems. Filled with knowledge, Ginsberg was not the kind to resort to academicism.

'Selected Poems' is a lean presentation. A short preface by Ginsberg leads off; followed by poems in order by appearance, arranged by the volumes they appeared in. A section at the end contains fragmentary notes and comments by the poet on the individual poems. Yet I am happy that I have this volume of his work rather than something more complete. For this is the work that Ginsberg, in retrospect, felt was important, and I think you will agree. As the poet said, "I didn't come here to solve anything. I came here to sing and for you to sing with me."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American original, August 17, 2004

By	Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Selected Poems 1947-1995 (Hardcover)

Ginsberg writes in the forward he has consulted fellow verse men. The collection encompasses the entire career. Son of a poet, he is an accomplished writer of poetry early in his career as evidenced by "The Shrouded Stranger". Ginsberg used craft to control emotion and outrage and harness his imagination in, for instance, "Siesta in Xbalba". He was very concerned to assist the reader by placing words on the page carefully.

HOWL is dedicated to Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Neal Cassady. Ginsberg's images have seeped into our language. It is no surprise to run into sutra, neon-lit, angel, holy, visions, omens, hallucinations. His great predecessor Walt Whitman is cited.

Surely one of the century's greatest poems is Ginsberg's poem to his mother, KADDISH. The mother, Naomi, his father, Louis, his brother, Eugene, his home, Paterson, are all featured in the work. Ginsberg wrote in remembrance of Frank O'Hara, chatty prophet and poet of building glass. The Cedar Bar is empty without him it is asserted.

The Bob Dylan influenced "September in Jessore Road" is topical and one of the poems provided with musical accompaniment. In 'Ego Confession" Ginsberg wants to be known as the most brilliant man in America. Certainly he was a titan. The "Plutonian Ode" mockingly lists places corrupted by radioactivity. In the end the poet chimes that he dreamed a dream of homeless places.

The poem GREEN AUTOMOBILE is addressed to Neal Cassady and it is emblematic of the whole collection. Notes in the back contain pictures of friends and notable subjects. A touching picture of Allen, Louis and Naomi at the 1940 World's Fair is included.