Jack Kerouac
"The Beat Generation"         [ Site Map ]

The history of literature has been "landmarked" by countless movements of varying styles and direction. The Beat Page is dedicated to the movement that began in the early 1950's with a small and tightly connected group of young writers who demonstrated a care-free, often reckless and unquestionably fresh approach to literature as well as a demonstrative social stance toward what was sometimes referred to as "The Establishment". The term "Beat" was reportedly coined by Jack Kerouac in the late 1940's, but became more common at about the time that writers like himself, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti were beginning to get noticed. It was quickly becoming a slang term in America after World War II, meaning "exhausted" or "beat down" and provided this generation with a definitive label for their personal and social positions and perspectives.

Featured Writer:

City Lights Bookstore Founded in 1953 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco is one of the few truly great independent bookstores in the United States; a place where book lovers from across the country and around the world come to browse, read, and just soak in the ambiance of alternative culture's only "Literary Landmark." Although it's been more than sixty years since the birth of the Beat Generation, the Beats' legacy of anti-authoritarian politics and insurgent thinking continues to be a strong influence in the store, most evident in the selection of titles.

 



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Note: If you're interested in linking to The Beat Page go here.

Send questions or comments to Kenneth Rumsey.
Founder, developer, webmaster and graphics guy for The Beat Page
( Hey, we all have our passions. )

Also, if you're an aspiring poet or just an avid poetry reader,
check out another RookNet project, Insomnia.



The material in these pages has been both produced here at RookNet and gathered from a variety of sources, including the Internet. If any information posted here is inaccurate, please let us know. If anything on these pages is in violation of any copyright or trademark laws, please let us know and it will be removed or amended immediately. We offer the material here as a show of our appreciation for a generation of great writers and to enlighten others to their work. This page is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. Thank you to our Sponsors: PBS | Smithsonian | mpmsoft.com who makes medical billing software. and Adobe