# How easy would it be to get into the works of Allen Ginsberg?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-would-it-be-to-get-into-the-works-of-allen-ginsberg/1014192>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** books-writing-myths\
**Created:** [February 11, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-would-it-be-to-get-into-the-works-of-allen-ginsberg/1014192 "2025-02-11T21:35:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-would-it-be-to-get-into-the-works-of-allen-ginsberg/1014192/1 "2025-02-11T21:35:56Z")

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This is sort of a meta thread, inspired by the current thread about rap in which @NAF1138 mentions Allen Ginsberg, and my own thread on Haruki Murakami’s _Pinball_. In _Wild Sheep Chase_, the sequel to _Pinball_, which I just started today, there’s a character who enjoys reading Allen Ginsberg.

Up until today, I had never heard of him, and now I run across his name twice in one day. Naturally I’m curious to know a little bit more about his work, but just like in the rap thread, I’m not sure his stuff is aimed at someone like me ( a middle aged upper middle class professional). For those who are familiar with his work, would you all recommend him, and if so what would be a good place to start?

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**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-would-it-be-to-get-into-the-works-of-allen-ginsberg/1014192/2 "2025-02-11T22:11:46Z")

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I would [start here](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49303/howl)

Edit: [this isn’t a bad companion](https://youtu.be/E2elaD6gMbQ?si=eakLECO5n2Kz40ix). Just found it, but the sound quality is pretty good.

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**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-would-it-be-to-get-into-the-works-of-allen-ginsberg/1014192/3 "2025-02-12T02:30:46Z")

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he was into Buddhist medication/chanting as well a psychotropic “herbs” (see the yage letters), political activist, part of Beat movement , spoken word poet

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**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-would-it-be-to-get-into-the-works-of-allen-ginsberg/1014192/4 "2025-02-12T02:49:48Z")

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Reading a bio, even the Wikipedia entry, would be helpful. Ginsberg was not a baby boomer–he was born in 1926–but had a big influence on “the Sixties.” The poem Howl speaks to many issues, from naked capitalism to the atomic bomb, and it is also intensely personal.