Love them or loathe them, the Beat Generation helped define the literature and poetics of an era. Their countercultural explorations pushed the boundaries of polite society from the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s. You could say that without the Beats there would have been no Hipsters.
Allen Ginsberg’s photographic memoir of the era (1953–1991), Snapshot Poetics, documents many stages in the development of the Beat ethos, from its roots at Columbia University through the cross-country migration to San Francisco. From candid shots of Jack Kerouac and Gregory Corso to a group photo in Tangiers, Ginsberg captures the adventurous nature and allure of the Beats.
Ginsberg captioned each of the beautiful black and white photos with handwritten notes. Although I find it enjoyable to decipher the scrawls, when it becomes difficult, there is an invaluable reference section in the back of the book that shows each caption typed out for easier reading. Also at the back, you’ll get brief biographical sketches of the Beat writers who were photographed and a short list of their most prominent works. – Hope E. Doty
