Joyce Johnson’s Door Wide Open, a compilation of letters exchanged with Jack Kerouac during their affair, offers a broad, believable view of the so-called “Beat Generation”, a group of writers infamous for its lack of strong female voices.
Johnson’s book provides a bird’s eye glimpse of the gritty world behind the novels and poems of the Beats. She was one loyal port-of-call in New York for that that circle of writers at a time when they were gallivanting all over the globe, keeping Jack up-to-date on news and gossip as he came and went. We see her as the nervous shy girl acting cool for Kerouac’s benefit, and get a sense of him as a tragically flawed but good-hearted coward.
The contents of the letters in this book refer to events from the couple's first meeting, after being fixed up by Allen Ginsberg, until their affair—which took place after the release of On the Road an important period in Kerouac's life—had become a friendship. The letters are supplemented by Johnson's narration and related correspondence from friends and relatives.
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On saturday evening I saw a play at the HOWL FESTIVAL about Allen Ginsberg
it also focussed on Beat women & the women were the show!
Playwright Larry Myers pointed out how subversive & victorious women were then & continue to be...it was called 'Memo from Allen
Ginsberg" & this memo included sexy,talented women doing some inspired writing...hopefully it will return...definitely THE HOWL HIGHLIGHT!
Every year the Howl Festival is a hoot. I saw a play called "Memo from Allen Ginsberg" way down on Murray Street on Saturday evening. This work was written from an informed perspective & covered alot of ground. It did not try to be show bizzy but pieced together segments from Ginsberg's budy, troubled & creative life. Larry Myers was the playwright 7 a gal named Kat Georges directed a gifted ensemble. A must for poetry lovers, hope this drama returns somewhere else.
A lot of people are talking about Larry Myers recently in connection with the Beats. I'm curious.
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