Beat generation aesthetic

A new catalogue of Kerouac's paintings is crucial in studying the overlap in his investment in writing and painting.

A new book of photographs by Burt Glinn – featuring a recently discovered essay by Jack Kerouac – captures the beat generation in all their jazz-heavy, late-night glory

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Gregory Corso at the Seven Arts Coffee Gallery, New York City, 1959

Sticking it to the man with bagels—or not

As anyone who has read Jack Kerouac knows, his novels are filled with real people and real events that have been reflected through the prism of his imagination. Over sixteen books Kerouac told a fictional autobiography through his alter ego Jack Dulouz--from childhood memories of his older brother's death (Visions of Gerard), to being a washed-up drunk on the verge of a nervous breakdown (Big Sur), he used his life as the source of his writing...

See the 45 best photos of New York's Greenwich Village in the '60s.

The so-called Beat Generation was a whole bunch of people, of all different nationalities, who came to the conclusion that society sucked. -- Amiri Baraka

Flyer for “Beat Poetry Reading” at the Charles Street Meeting House, October 24, 1977, with Ed Sanders, Joe Dunn, Eero Ruutila, and J.D. Dawson.

The Beat Generation are an often misunderstood group of souls. Even figuring out who and what they are is notoriously difficult. Yet there is no shortage of great books about the Beat writers and their fascinating lives and work. Below, I have collected what I consider the 12 essential