The Story of the Outraged & Outrageous Lives That Launched a Cultural Revolution

By: New Shelves Distribution
 
Mania Web
Mania Web
TROY, N.Y. - April 25, 2013 - PRLog -- From the highly acclaimed authors of The Trials of Lenny Bruce, Ron Collins and David Skover’s MANIA: The Story of the Outraged & Outrageous Lives That Launched a Cultural Revolution (Top Five Books; 3/1/2013; $26.00) tells the mad, manic, drug-and-sex-fueled story of the writers and artists who shaped the cultural revolution that followed—Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and the others in their circle who rebelled against every norm society had to offer.

By the time Lucien Carr stabbed David Kammerer to death on the banks of the Hudson River in August 1944, it was clear that the hard-partying teenage companion to Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs might need to reevaluate his life. A two-year stint in a reformatory straightened out the wayward youth but did little to curb the wild ways of his friends.

They were a remarkable group of writers who strained against the conformity of postwar America—experimenting with drink, drugs, sex, jazz, and literature—and who yearned to be heard, to remake art and society in their own libertine image. There was Herbert Huncke (rhymes with junkie), who introduced Burroughs to heroin and the rest to the “beat” lifestyle—beat in every sense of the word. There was Bill Cannastra and Neal Cassady, two men who burned to live, one who suffered the consequences of his own reckless antics, and one who never seemed to suffer the consequences of anything.

Authors Collins and Skover spent more than eight years researching and writing the story of Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs, Cassady, Carr, and others—from the killing of David Kammerer to the car crash that led to Ginsberg’s committal to an asylum, to the publication of John Clellon Holmes’ Go, Kerouac’s On the Road, Burroughs’ Junky and Naked Lunch, up to the 6 Gallery reading and publication of Ginsberg’s Howl and the obscenity trial of bookseller/publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti that followed.

From New York to New Orleans, Mexico City to Morocco, Denver to San Francisco, they were mad to live and lived to create. And they created some of the 20th century’s most enduring works of literature, bringing their countercultural ethos into the mainstream and becoming stars in the process. America would never be the same again.

What Did They All Have in Common?…

—    Lucien Carr: spoiled darling of Columbia University who brutally killed a gay man and then raised an “honor defense”

—    Allen Ginsberg: talented poet who drew literary inspiration from his time as a patient in an insane asylum

—    Herbert Huncke: junkie/hooker who charmed Ivy League college kids with bizarre tales about his brazen exploits

—    William Burroughs: creative novelist and heir to a famous well-to-do family who toted pistols and killed his wife in a “William Tell” incident

—    Jack Kerouac: celebrated writer who couldn’t cope with being a cultural icon and wound up, in Ginsberg’s words, a “drunken ghost”

…Mania.

________________________________________________________________________

Following the Dec. 2012 release of the movie adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (with Viggo Mortensen and Kristen Stewart) and coinciding with the 2013 premiere of the film Kill Your Darlings (focusing on the Lucien Carr killing of David Kammerer, with Daniel Radcliffe portraying a young Allen Ginsberg), MANIA arrives at a time of renewed interest in the lives of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Bill Burroughs, and their generation by a new and younger generation.

________________________________________________________________________

MANIA

Hardcover  |  $26.00  |  ISBN: 978-1-938938-02-3  |  History/Biography  |  480 pages

eBook: $9.99  |  eISBN: 978-1-938938-03-0

On-sale date: March 1, 2013

________________________________________________________________________

Coauthors Ron Collins & David Skover will be available for interviews in the following cities:

• Washington, DC          • Baltimore          • Miami

• New York          • Chicago

• Los Angeles          • San Francisco

• Portland          • Seattle

About the Authors


Ron Collins and David Skover are friends. Ron lives in the East, David in the West. They have been writing together for almost three decades. Their work is a joint effort, with David manning the keys and Ron pacing. They have coauthored four books together, The Death of Discourse (1996, 2005), The Trials of Lenny Bruce (2002, 2012), MANIA (2013), and the forthcoming On Dissent (2013). They have been writing for years on popular culture and free speech. Ron is the Harold S. Shefelman Scholar at the University of Washington Law School, and David is the Fredric C. Tausend Professor of Constitutional Law at Seattle University. Both have written numerous scholarly articles (often together) in journals such as the Harvard and Stanford Law Reviews and in the Supreme Court Review. In 2003 they successfully petitioned the Governor of New York to posthumously pardon the ribald comedian Lenny Bruce.

Advance Praise for MANIA:

“Collins and Skover offer a vivid retelling…those in search of a good story and the raw,

compelling ‘feel’ for the mindset and actions of the Beats will be rewarded.…The madcap, savage world of the Beats is laid out in spades.”

Publishers Weekly

“A balanced history—sometimes admiring, sometimes blistering—of the writers who fractured the glass capsule of literary conformity.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Stunning, disturbing, and remarkably intimate….With MANIA, Collins and Skover provide readers with a rare close-up of the lives, the loves, the trials, and the tribulations of a handful of rebels who forged new cultural ground. It is likely this book will help assure that the key figures of the Beat Generation will not soon be forgotten.”

ForeWord Reviews

MANIA is a stunning and chilling portrait of rebellious youth gone mad. The story descends into a netherworld of heroes and antiheroes, killers and creators, junkies and geniuses. Collins and Skover, through a thrilling narrative and unprecedented research, reveal how a misfit band of brothers, dreamers, and vagabonds broke old ties, abandoned families, and lived by their own rules to concoct an ecstatic and uninhibited vision of literary modernism. From the macabre killing that opens the book to the grand free speech victory at its climax, MANIA is both a celebratory and cautionary tale of American revolt. A remarkable achievement!”

James L. Swanson

New York Times bestselling author of Bloody Crimes and

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer

MANIA is the Outlaw Manifesto of the Cold War era. Wild-eyed and high-octane capers by Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg are told here with vivid freshness. Kick out the doorjambs and read the rollick. A fine rollercoaster of a literary ride.”

Douglas Brinkley

Bestselling author and editor of Jack Kerouac: Windblown World

and Kerouac: Road Novels, 1957–1960

“I read MANIA with a good deal of anticipation, and I wasn’t a bit disappointed. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down and read it right through. So much fascinating material and so well-written!”

Barbara Meade, cofounder of Politics & Prose Bookstore

“Presented in a gripping, easily readable writing style, the book breaks new ground in its well-documented explanation of the lives and motivations of all the main characters involved in  this cultural and literary revolution. MANIA makes for an exciting story, exceptionally well told.”

Dave Moore

founding editor, The Kerouac Connection,

editor of Neal Cassady: Collected Letters 1944–1967

“Collins and Skover…have put together the most comprehensively researched account that I have seen of the apprentice years of the Beat writers. Their book will become the go-to account of the composition of their key works, the ground-breaking legal issues that resulted, and their continuing cultural aftermath.”

Matt Theado

author of Understanding Jack Kerouac and The Beats

“This book makes an important and lively contribution to the literature. The authors’ narrative is unique and their amazing attention to detail illuminates many dark areas in Beat history. MANIA also solidifies the importance of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” not only for 20th-century poetry but for its impact on America’s political, cultural, and legal climate as well. A book long overdue.”

Paul Maher

author of Jack Kerouac’s American Journey and Kerouac: His Life & Work

and editor of Empty Phantoms: Interviews and Encounters with Jack Kerouac

“The scope and depth of the research in this book is most impressive, as is the quality of analysis and understanding of the main issues. Responsibly scholarly, Collins and Skover’s engaging book reveals a full appreciation of their subject.”

Al Bendich

ACLU attorney, co-counsel for Lawrence Ferlinghetti in the 1957 Howl trial

Earlier Praise for Collins & Skover’s The Trials of Lenny Bruce

“One of the best books of 2002.” —L.A. Times

“Collins and Skover…meticulously document both litigation and the literary scene of the 1960s.…Generating a gamut of emotions, the entire package is an important documentation of a revolution in American culture.”

Publishers Weekly

“The authors set the record straight.…Detailed, objective, and valuable.”

Kirkus Reviews

“The book is indispensable.”Booklist

“Collins and Skover write with clarity and energy….entertaining, often exciting.”

Baltimore Sun

“Had he lived, Bruce would have had a lot to talk about with Ronald K.L. Collins and David M. Skover....Their descriptions of nightclub life in the early ’60s are fascinating.”

Washington Post

Photo:
https://www.prlog.org/12125693/1
End
Source:New Shelves Distribution
Email:***@newshelves.com Email Verified
Tags:History, Biography, Cultural Revolution, Lucien Carr, David Kammerer, Herbert Huncke, William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac
Industry:Books
Location:Troy - New York - United States
Subject:Products
Account Email Address Verified     Account Phone Number Verified     Disclaimer     Report Abuse



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share