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The Beats: A Graphic History (2009)

by Paul Buhle(Favorite Author)

3.4 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0809094967 (ISBN13: 9780809094967)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Hill and Wang

review 1: An interesting treatment of a fascinating historical period and its contributors. Though he is the star contributor, Pekar's contributions are actually the weakest part of the book: his biographies of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs are flat, lacking in purpose, and occasionally difficult to follow. He attempts to use first names and surnames interchangeably, but tends toward "Kerouac" in the Kerouac section and then "Allen" in the Ginsberg section, a move that is ultimately distracting. In another instance, Pekar and Piskor introduce Joan Haverty, Kerouac's wife, and then devote the next page to describing Burroughs' killing of "Joan," without bothering to point out that the Joan now being discussed is Joan Vollmer, Burroughs's wife, and not the Joan we had just read ... moreabout. Though I knew that Burroughs had killed his own wife, not Kerouac's, I still found myself scratching my head and going back to check what I had just read, and for me, that's a HUGE problem for a graphic work. Pekar and Piskor include details without purpose--at one point, they devote a panel to mentioning a reunion between Ginsberg and Neal Cassady, but no significance is explained, and the subject is immediately dropped, leaving the reader to wonder why they brought it up in the first place. The three accounts mostly work together, but inconsistencies creep up (the writing process of Naked Lunch is confusingly retold in the Burroughs section in a way that is at odds with the account in the Ginsberg section). It's frustrating, but I think the medium of the graphic history actually does the biography a disservice in the three primary pieces. And honestly, Pekar's contributions to the later mini-bios of other figures in the Beat movement are still a weak point: they are cursory at best. Pekar simply doesn't seem to care.The book is redeemed, however, by the contributions of others, particularly in "Lamantia" and "Beat Chicks," both gorgeously and brilliantly illustrated by Summer McClinton. McClinton establishes herself as a superb artist with a keen feel for how to best support the story, and I found myself instantly wanting to read more of her. Nancy J. Peters contributes a wonderful narration to "Lamantia" and "City Lights and the Beats in San Francisco," and Joyce Brabner lends a beautiful elegiac tone to "Beat Chicks." ("Beat Chicks" is absolutely the high point of the volume.) Jerome Neukirch's "The Janitor" is similarly strong. All these authors and illustrators manage to give to their pieces what Pekar and Piskor's lack: a convincing purpose, a point. They weave in critique and praise and are less straightforward biography than Pekar's contributions, but they are more purposeful and more thought-provoking. Had The Beats: A Graphic History ended after Pekar's contributions, it would have been a solid two stars, but the bright spots in the latter portion make up for the disappointing Pekar-led bulk of the book.
review 2: An interesting book. I know now more about the beat authors and why they, for the most part, are a bunch over-hyped hacks.The three authors that have the largest sections are three people I would not choose to associate with. Led lives that were unbelievable. Perhaps that was a product of their times, but still all three have/had major character flaws (Homophobic, anti-Semitic, racist, etc). less

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