The Beats: A Graphic History (Paperback)
by Harvey Pekar (Author), Paul Buhle (Editor), Ed Piskor (Illustrator)

Souvenir Press Ltd (30 Sep 2009)

During World War Two a group of friends in New York would begin a cultural revolution. Over the following decades Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs would write their own masterpieces but taken together, as the Beats, they would also become a focal point for a literary explosion and a generation of revolution. Their story is explored through the graphic art of a variety of artists. The artwork in The Beats is as vibrant as the writing and lifestyles of the Beat movement itself, and is a tribute to a generation in a form and style as original as its subject. The Beats explores the political roots of the movement and its influence on the demand for women s rights, as well as its influence on other cultural forms: art and music.

“Editor Paul Buhle’s graphic history The Beats—with riffs from cats such as Harvey Pekar and Trina Robbins—burns like a Roman candle.” —Vanity Fair

The best thing about this collection... is that it elevates lesser-known figures tied to Kerouac and company... A worthy introduction to the makers of Howl, Naked Lunch, On the Road, Turtle Island and a small library s worth of enduring books. --Kirkus Reviews

“The Beats is as fresh and pertinent as the latest scholarly history, only far more entertaining.” —Studs Terkel