{"id":6628,"date":"2015-11-24T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/?p=6628"},"modified":"2015-11-23T11:19:08","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T16:19:08","slug":"examining-the-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/2015\/11\/24\/examining-the-beat\/","title":{"rendered":"Examining “the Beat”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beatnik<\/a><\/p>\n

This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items recently cataloged from the\u00a0Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The arrival of the Beat Generation generated controversy, conversation, and in some cases literature; for some onlookers, though, it was mostly a source of opportunity. Hence Beatnik<\/em>, which promises \u201can uncensored, unexpurgated expos\u00e9 of the \u2018Beat Generation\u2019\u201d, \u201cprofusely illustrated with candid action photos\u201d. \u00a0Inside is a series of accounts, all by the publisher, Heater Wall, of the Beats\u2019 debauchery and disillusionment. \u201cBEATNIK BABE BURNED! COOL PARTY PINCHED! \u00a0BEAT BATTERS BATTY BROAD! SEX SILLY SIRENS SAPPED! DELOUSE DOPE DIZZY DAMES!\u201d blares the headline of one article, giving the reader a sense of the writing\u2019s lurid flavor.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Beatnik<\/a><\/p>\n

The volume is not without its accurate details \u2013 the Co-Existence Bagel Shop, a social center for San Francisco Beats in the 1950s, is pictured and described \u2013 but the slavering reports on violent Beatnik orgies and destitute youths turning to strip-tease for money are more dubious. Disdain for the apathy and dull-mindedness of this feckless new generation is a prominent theme, selling a sense of moral superiority alongside the prurient fantasy.<\/p>\n

\"Beatnik<\/a><\/p>\n

Accompanying this text are numerous photographs and drawings, many of an erotic nature. Some of the pictures are of Beats in their natural habitat, but the larger spreads are often of professional models, and are credited as such in their captions; \u201ccandid action photos\u201d these are not. Said captions nonetheless try to sell the dangerous allure of the Beatnik; beneath one lingerie-clad model, the following is written: \u201cEven the callowest Beat chick will revel in crazy under-attire, exotic trappings, \u2018gone\u2019 shoes and eccentric jewelry. Many profess an interest in art but few can tell the difference between a Rembrandt and a Bosch.\u201d Another caption reads: \u201cNo one can claim Beat chicks are inhibited and only underthings are usually worn around the \u2018Pad\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Beatnik<\/a><\/p>\n

Beatnik:\u00a0an uncensored, unexpurgated expos\u00e9 of the “Beat Generation”.\u00a0[United States]: Beelzebub Books, 1959.<\/span> <\/em>AC95.W1553.959b<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thanks to rare book ca<\/em>taloger Ryan Wheeler for contributing this post.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items recently cataloged from the\u00a0Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection. The arrival of the Beat Generation generated controversy, conversation, and in some cases literature; for some onlookers, though, it was mostly a source of opportunity. Hence Beatnik, which promises \u201can uncensored, unexpurgated expos\u00e9 of the \u2018Beat Generation\u2019\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1761,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[64929],"tags":[2427,142597,133068,2851,873],"class_list":["post-6628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-houghton-library","tag-american-literature","tag-american-poetry","tag-beat","tag-beats","tag-poetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5TUly-1IU","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1761"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6628"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6637,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6628\/revisions\/6637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/houghtonmodern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}