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Allen Ginsberg

Film

The Many Cinematic Faces of Allen Ginsberg

By Emily Temple on

This week, we saw the first photo evidence of Daniel Radcliffe’s turn as American poet Allen Ginsberg in John Krokidas’s Kill Your Darlings, the newest drama about the Beat Generation. Though the film raises many questions for us, like “Do we need another film about Allen Ginsberg right now?” and “Why is a British kid playing a quintessential American icon?” and “But would Jesse Eisenberg really have been any better?,” we’re still pretty fascinated by any portrayal of Ginsberg on screen, however flawed it might be.

In an interview with the BBC, Radcliffe defended his casting, joking, “Well, James Franco is way too good-looking to play Allen Ginsberg.” True, but Radcliffe doesn’t look any more like the poet than Franco does. We don’t understand why nobody has ever cast Jeff Goldblum. It seems like a no-brainer. Ginsberg has been portrayed on film and television more than ten times since 1987, but there’s always room for improvement. We’ve taken a look at a few of his more prominent portrayals and laid down the brief, purely superficial judgement — let us know if you agree in the comments. … Read More

Photography

Intimate Photos of Allen Ginsberg and Other Beat Fellows

By Alison Nastasi on

Gordon Ball spent 28 years taking candid photos of Beat legend Allen Ginsberg and his colorful circle of friends. The Howl scribe’s life is well documented in over one thousand images that Ball captured from 1969 — at Ginsberg’s Cherry Valley, New York farm that the photographer managed for a time — to the author’s funerals in New York City in 1997. Paging through Ball’s photos, you’ll find Beat fellows and other friends like Burroughs (in swimming trunks!), writer Herbert Huncke, poets Philip Whalen, Peter Orlovsky (also Ginsberg’s lifelong partner), Gregory Corso, and even Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. Shots of Ginsberg’s Lower East Side apartment, his desk, and other personal belongings have also been intimately captured.

The counterculture poet’s aforementioned farm — which Ginsberg described as “a haven for comrades in distress” — has inspired a new book for Ball, East Hill Farm: Seasons with Allen Ginsberg. “First described as an uninspiring, dilapidated four-bedroom house with acres of untended land, including the graves of its first residents, East Hill Farm became home to those who sought pastoral enlightenment in the presence of Ginsberg’s brilliance and generosity.” Pick up a copy of the book over here, and visit our gallery past the break where we share Ball’s deeply personal photographs of the literary legend. … Read More

Books

Bookish Brands: 25 Pieces of Awesome Literary Street Art

By Emily Temple on

Graffiti artists aren’t particularly known for their bookishness. After all, when you spend your nights out on the street as a graphic art vigilante, you’re missing important time that could be spent snuggled up in bed with a book. So after we saw this spectacular Isaac Asimov portrait, we decided to go hunting for graffiti with a distinct literary bent — and in fact, the world abounds with bookish street art, from portraits of favorite authors to stenciled and scribbled quotes to representations of beloved characters. Click through to see twenty five of our favorite finds, from the reverent to the blatantly mocking, and let us know which author’s likeness you’d most like to stencil onto the walls of your city in the comments — or get out there and contribute to our collection. … Read More

Pop Culture

Books, Booze, and Beds: 10 Legendary Haunts of Artists and Writers

By Emily Temple on

A patron of the arts as well as a visionary bookseller, George Whitman, the owner of Shakespeare & Company, the legendary English-language bookstore on the Left Bank in Paris, died this week at age 98. Writers flocked to his shop to browse, mingle, and even spend the night. To honor Whitman’s legacy, we decided to take a look at Shakespeare & Company, as well as several other storied haunts of artists, writers, poets and other intellectuals, from cafés to bookstores to hotels. Click through to check out our list, and let us know which currently happening spot you think will become the next artist hangout of legend in the comments. … Read More

Books

10 Poems Everyone Needs to Read

By Emily Temple on

Today is National Poetry Day, and we gently suggest that you celebrate by reading a poem or two. Not sure which poem to go for? Well, for those that skipped freshman English, or were too busy staring at the girl in the second row, or even those who’ve read everything under the sun but could use a refresher, we’ve put together a list of ten poems we think everyone needs to read, at least at some point in their lives. Obviously, we believe everyone should read more than ten poems, and there are many poets we love who we did not include on this list — including many modern poets not yet fully established in the canon, but hey, Poe didn’t make the cut either. Some poems we chose for historical significance, some for the skill of the writer, and some for the pure pleasure of their text, but all of these are important for a poetic education. Click through to see ten (of the many) poems we think everyone needs to read, and let us know which ones you’d choose in the comments. … Read More

Film

Just Kids: Casting the Patti Smith Biopic

By Emily Temple on

There’s been much buzz about the newly announced forthcoming biopic based on Patti Smith’s bestselling memoir, Just Kids. We’re as excited as anybody, and like many of you (we imagine), we’ve been spending our off hours turning over possible actors — not only for the roles of Patti and Robert, but their supporting players as well. After all, a film like this, based on real life events and concerning persons still living, as well as depicting characters much beloved in our culture, is going to be pretty hard to cast. Ever the overachievers, we thought we’d take a stab at casting our picks for Patti, Robert, and some of their friends. Click through to see who we chose, and let us know your own feelings (we’re sure you have strong ones) in the comments! … Read More

Film

10 Great Movies for Book Lovers

By Jason Bailey on

Hey there, bookworms, it’s National Book Lovers Day! How’s about celebrating by, um, watching a movie? (Our logic is less than ironclad, we’ll admit.) Sure, the moving picture doesn’t always do right by the written word, but a few fine films have celebrated literature and writers in ways memorable, thought-provoking, and entertaining; we’ve assembled ten of our favorites after the jump, with plenty of room in the comments for you to throw in your own. … Read More

Art

Gallery: Ai Weiwei's Photos of NYC Life Make Their US Debut

By Rozalia Jovanovic on

For the first time outside of China, over 200 photographs by recently released artist Ai Weiwei are on view in Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983 – 1993, an exhibition presented by Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing in association with the Asia Society Museum in New York. Before Ai became an internationally recognized artist and activist, he lived in the East Village amongst expatriate Chinese intellectuals and artists. His images document some of the most critical and defining events of the period, as well as the general atmosphere of the time; highlights of the exhibition include photos of a reading by Allen Ginsburg, riots in the parks of the East Village, drag queens at Wigstock, and a visit by Bill Clinton, as well as artful self-portraits, and portraits of notable Chinese intellectuals, like the filmmaker Chen Kaige and composer Tan Dun. In addition to the beauty and significance of these images as artifacts, the show offers a rare look into the thoughts and attitudes of a burgeoning conceptual artist. Click through for a preview. … Read More

Photography

Some Never-Before-Seen Photographs of Bob Dylan

By Marina Galperina on

From Jagger to Warhol, Bronx-born photographer Ken Regan has captured some our cultural history’s greatest icons. And now we bring you his previously unpublished shots of Bob Dylan playing shirtless backgammon backstage on the Rolling Thunder Revue tour, laughing up with young Patti Smith at a Greenwich Village party and reading a paper at convenience store in 2000. Starting May 20th, the Morrison Hotel Gallery in SoHo is showing off un-seen gems and seen classics from Regan’s impressive body of work, from crinkling white-face close-ups to tour bus poker games with the band. To celebrate the folk juggernaut’s upcoming 70th birthday, check out some of our favorite photos from the Ken Regan Presents Bob Dylan exhibit. … Read More

Books

10 Real-Life Literary Power Couples

By Emily Temple on

Artists love other artists. Perhaps there is an electric connection between two people whose minds are always whirring, or literary snobs can’t bear to date laymen, or perhaps for some writers, the only way they know their partner will understand them is if that person is also a writer. No matter what it is, there’s something powerful about a couple on the same team in the same industry. Plus, everybody loves a celebrity couple, and we particularly love literary celebrity couples. We like to imagine their arguments as poetic and their children as geniuses, and their lives spent sitting around in oaken rooms drinking brandy and scribbling between loving looks. Well, maybe that’s not realistic. But to each their own celebrity fantasy, right? Click through for our list of ten of our favorite real-life literary power couples — and let us know which ones we’ve missed in the comments! … Read More