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Mania: The Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Lives That Launched a Cultural Revolution Kindle Edition

by Ronald K.L. Collins (Author), David M. Skover (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 27 ratings

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By the time Lucien Carr stabbed David Kammerer to death on the banks of the Hudson River in August 1944, it was clear that the hard-partying teenage companion to Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, and William S. Burroughs might need to reevaluate his life. A two-year stint in a reformatory straightened out the wayward youth but did little to curb the wild ways of his friends.

MANIA tells the story of this remarkable group—who strained against the conformity of postwar America, who experimented with drink, drugs, sex, jazz, and literature, and who yearned to be heard, to remake art and society in their own libertine image. What is more remarkable than the manic lives they led is that they succeeded—remaking their own generation and inspiring the ones that followed. From the breakthrough success of Kerouac's On the Road to the controversy of Ginsberg's Howl and Burroughs' Naked Lunch, the counterculture was about to go mainstream for the first time, and America would never be the same again.

Based on more than eight years' writing and research, Ronald Collins and David Skover—authors of the highly acclaimed The Trials of Lenny Bruce—bring the stories of these artists, hipsters, hustlers, and maniacs to life in a dramatic, fast-paced, and often darkly comic narrative.

"Collins and Skover’s MANIA is easily the best book about the formative years and early adventures of the men and women called collectively the Beat Generation that I have ever seen, not to mention the most attractive." --Zack Kopp, Examiner.com

Print length

485 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

November 21, 2013
File size

2994 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ron Collins and David Skover have been writing together for almost three decades. In addition to MANIA, they have also coauthored three other books together--The Death of Discourse (1996), The Trials of Lenny Bruce (2002), and On Dissent (2013). Ron, who grew up in Southern California and teaches at the University of Washington Law School, lives in Bethesda, Maryland. David, who grew up in Wisconsin and teaches at Seattle University Law School, lives in Seattle. Both have written numerous scholarly articles (often together) in journals such as the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and in the Supreme Court Review. Their previous book, The Trials of Lenny Bruce, was chosen by the Los Angeles Times as one of the best books of the
year for 2002. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

"Collins and Skover offer a vivid retelling...those in search of a good story and the raw, compelling 'feel' for the mindset and actions of the Beats will be rewarded....The madcap, savage world of the Beats is laid out in spades." —Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

"A balanced history—sometimes admiring, sometimes blistering—of the writers who fractured the glass capsule of literary conformity." —Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Review

"Collins and Skover offer a vivid retelling...those in search of a good story and the raw, compelling 'feel' for the mindset and actions of the Beats will be rewarded....The madcap, savage world of the Beats is laid out in spades." --Publishers Weekly

"A balanced history--sometimes admiring, sometimes blistering--of the writers who fractured the glass capsule of literary conformity." --Kirkus Reviews

"Stunning, disturbing, and remarkably intimate....With MANIA, Collins and Skover provide readers with a rare close-up of the lives, the loves, the trials, and the tribulations of a handful of rebels who forged new cultural ground. It is likely this book will help assure that the key figures of the Beat Generation will not soon be forgotten." --Foreword Reviews

"MANIA is a stunning and chilling portrait of rebellious youth gone mad. The story descends into a netherworld of heroes and antiheroes, killers and creators, junkies and geniuses. Collins and Skover, through a thrilling narrative and unprecedented research, reveal how a misfit band of brothers, dreamers, and vagabonds broke old ties, abandoned families, and lived by their own rules to concoct an ecstatic and uninhibited vision of literary modernism. From the macabre killing that opens the book to the grand free speech victory at its climax, MANIA is both a celebratory and cautionary tale of American revolt. A remarkable achievement!" --James L. Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of Bloody Crimes and Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

"Ron Collins and David M. Skover's MANIA is the Outlaw Manifesto of the Cold War era. Wild-eyed and high-octane capers by Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg are told here with vivid freshness. Kick out the doorjambs and read the rollick. A fine rollercoaster of a literary ride." --Douglas Brinkley, bestselling author and editor of Jack Kerouac: Windblown World and Kerouac: Road Novels, 1957-1960

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00BMCMJHC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Top Five Books (November 21, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 21, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2994 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 485 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #2,072,288 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #5,038 in Biographies & Memoirs of Authors
- #5,046 in 20th Century History of the U.S.
- #16,659 in Author Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.2 27 ratings

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Ronald K. L. Collins
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Ronald Collins is the Harold S. Shefelman scholar at the University of Washington Law School and a fellow at the First Amendment Center. He is the editor of CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT IN AMERICA (1980), THE DEATH OF CONTRACT (1992), and THE FUNDAMENTAL HOLMES: A FREE SPEECH CHRONICLE AND READER. He is the co-author of THE DEATH OF DISCOURSE, (1996, 2005), THE TRIALS OF LENNY BRUCE (2002), AND WE MUST NOT BE AFRAID TO BE FREE: STORIES OF FREE EXPRESSION IN AMERICA (2011). IN 2010 he was selected as a writer in residence at the Normal Mailer home in Provincetown.
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David M. Skover
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I am a Professor of Law at Seattle University, where I've taught Constitutional Law, First Amendment Law, and Mass Media Theory for 30 some years. In the course of my professional life, I've written books that have been inspired by my course reading and research.
My first coauthored book, "Tactics of Legal Reasoning," was geared for students who needed a primer on the intellectual moves that lawyers and judges take to construct and deconstruct legal arguments. My second coauthored book, "The Death of Discourse," was directed to a general audience interested in the ways that modern mass media, advertising, and the pornographic culture have dramatically changed the character of public discourse.
Then came "The Trials of Lenny Bruce," a book that focused on the obscenity trials of the famous Jewish comedian of the 1950s and 1960s. Two books came out in 2013 -- first, "Mania," a narrative account of the outrageous lives of, and the outraged literature produced by the major Beat figures (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and others) in the early 1950s; and second, "On Dissent," an exploration of the meaning of the concept of dissent in contemporary America.
They were followed by three more: "The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons," a dynamic compendium of career advice for federal court judges; "Robotica: Speech Rights and Artificial Intelligence," a defense of free speech protection for robotic expression; and "The People v. The Poet-Publisher," a stirring account of the celebrated American poet and publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and his battle for First Amendment protection for erotic poetry.
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4.2 out of 5

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Lilith Island

A Must Read

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2013

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Great book. Must read. Whether you're into the "beat" generation or not. I wasn't. Didn't know much about them. These folks came alive again, largely because of the writers and the way they chose to write the book, I feel. The chapters (47 plus a wonderful epilogue) are very short, though the book is hefty enough, and I ended up with the experience of "can't wait to keep reading this book." My deepest admiration goes to Judge Clayton Horn. David Perlman wrote: "Judge Horn, who regularly teaches Bible class at a Sunday school, was under something of a cloud when he mounted the bench for the Howl case. He had just been raked over by the local press for a decision in which he had sentenced five lady shoplifters to attend The Ten Commandments and write penitential essays on the supercolossal epic's moral lesson." Judge Horn was the book's truest hero, and I owe him a great debt. Not only did he sanction this book legally, but he made a fundamental point that we have largely forgotten, abandoned, or never adopted in the first place: "life is not encased in one formula whereby everyone acts the same or conforms to a particular pattern. No two persons think alike; we were all made from the same mold but in different patterns." According to the authors, Ronald K.L. Collins and David M. Skover, "Judge Horn’s opinion would have been a memorable one, sure to be widely cited by other courts, if only it had ever been officially published. It never was." That truth, more than any other, I feel, says more about our society than perhaps even Ginsberg's "America." Ultimately, the book had the effect of making me reconsider a lot of things. The movie (excellent),"Kill Your Darlings," just out, focuses on Ginsberg and others during their Columbia University phase. The book, however, ends up being far more captivating.

4 people found this helpful

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Grace A. Rudolph

Mania: The Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Live That Launchen a ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2013

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Mania: The Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Lives - and so forth! - was an interesting read. However, I couldn't help but feel the Beat Generation was absolutely not cool. Their lives were so intertwined and empty that I felt, after reading the book, they missed the goodness that could have also been there for the taking.- If they could have gotten over their mega egos.

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Mrs. H

Moving piece of written genius!

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2016

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Beautiful, beautiful book.

I've read close to 6-7 Beat biographies during my summer vacation and this is probably my favourite. It's perfectly written and SO well researched!

I wish this was more well-known and popular as Joyce Johnson's misinformed clap trap on her Beat "writings."

Goes to show you Mania is a total diamond in the rough. Absolutely purchase this! You will enjoy reading about Ginsberg & Lucien/Kammerer immensely.

I cried a bit when I hit Ginsberg's section. How moving and talented Collins and Skover are at portraying his young struggles on paper!

I have the Kindle version and I will probably purchase the paperback now as well.

FYI Amazon does indeed have the cheapest price around for this book so look no further.

One person found this helpful

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Sun Storm

Outrageousness aplenty: good coverage of an important trial after a lengthy compendium of wildness

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2015

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The first few pages give the reader a good impression, then the trouble begins. Part of the problem is unavoidable: these Beats were not especially likable in their personal habits and relationships, and so reading this part of the book is a bit like reading "Naked Lunch". Part of the problem is that the bulk of the book before the trial of Ferlinghetti for publishing "Howl" seems disorganized and not overly well written. The sections on the obscenity trial are excellent; one wishes for more. The story of the publication and success of "On the Road", followed by Kerouac's unraveling is sad but well told. The little vignettes at the end, answering the question "where are they now?", are good and one wishes they could be expanded. How nice it would be if this Kindle edition had active links to the poems and magazine pieces that are mentioned in the text, e.g., Holmes' article on the Beat Generation, Ferlinghetti's poem "Pity the Nation", the text of "Howl", Bendich's legal notes for the judge, Judge Horn's ruling (it is in the Appendix), and the NYTimes review of "On the Road".

One wonders if there were musicians whose lives and music influenced the lives covered herein. Likewise, one wishes for more coverage of the scene in San Francisco in the late 1940s and 1950s, and maybe some comments from the major pre-WWII writers and editors who were famous in the 1950s. But these are quibbles. Overall, one gets a good sense of the lives covered here, and of the difficulties, societal and self-generated, that these writers encountered. Well worth reading, but probably not a good choice for your Bookclub ( although the section on the trial could be paired nicely with a reading of "Howl"). One certainly can read "Howl" with more understanding after reading this book, although I find it a great piece in and of itself. As for this book, "Mania", writers and readers everywhere must congratulate these two authors for their continuing presentation of important first amendment cases. 3.5 stars.

3 people found this helpful

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J. Michael Bell

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy.This biography is Holy!

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2014

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There are many books about the wild personalities who populate this book, and while many of them are insightful in their own right, most have nothing new to say. With MANIA: THE STORY OF THE OUTRAGED AND OUTRAGEOUS LIVES THAT LAUNCHED A CULTURAL REVOLUTION, authors Collins and Skover have not only presented some new and interesting facts, they have managed to capture the voice and style of the person they are reporting on. I am madly impressed with this book. I have admired the Beats for 30+ years. Finally there is a book truly worthy of retelling the passions and disasters they faced, and presenting them to an audience wishing for more than leftovers.

Let us hope that this book will be read by generations of readers to follow.

One person found this helpful

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matthew murphy

GOOD STUFF

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2013

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if you are interested in the beats and want to know more about them you should read this book. do it soon!

3 people found this helpful

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Ed Farnsworth

A new, bold history

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2013

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Saw one of the authors, David Skover, talking about the book in a TV interview and risked ordering it. Just started it, but the writing is excellent. A very exciting, meticulously researched biography. Somebody's gonna make a film of this thing. It's smart but red hot.

3 people found this helpful

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Leslie Gardner

not for the squeamish

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2014

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gripping real-life story of furore over such comedians as lenny bruce - good sense of the times and what was at stake for all of us, really

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