Howl and Other Poems (City Lights Pocket Poets, No. 4)

Is any poem more infamous, or long, or definitive of its era than this epic yawp by Allen Ginsburg? Published in 1956 at the height of the Beat era, it took two years to write, was apparently inspired by a disastrous peyote trip, and was always meant to be performed out loud. The government arrested and tried the publisher for "distributing obscene material" because of one line that went, "who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy" but a judge found that the poem had non-pornographic value as well so everyone got out of jail and got to keep selling the thing. Apparently the first ever recording was made at Reed College here in Portland where Ginsberg liked to hang out while hitchhiking through. This is a very small, pocket-sized printing, perfect to use for your own street corner performance, or to read on the bus.