The full working title of the book is; The Typewriter is Holy - The Complete Uncensored History of the Beat Generation.
The idea to read this was two-fold. For one; I have a soft spot for what has been called "The Beat Generation" A great deal of my reviews are of books by, or close to the time, the 'Beat' renaissance writers were writing. For two; I was in the right place at the right time and found his book in a discount bin for only 2.00 Canadian dollars. That is less than a cheap cup of coffee these days. So, I literally had no choice. I had to buy it, and I happily did.
Without giving too much away this is a work on non-fiction, written by Bill Morgan. Morgan, who has worked as an editor and archival consultant for nearly each of the writers from that time, has painted an interesting picture for us Beat lovers. The author states that this book gives an "uncensored" look at the writers from this era. For certain, this book offers a ripe history of some of the greatest and most influential writers from that time, and for me at least, it shed light on a lot of topics I was previously unaware of from that time. If you have read individual biographies of some of the Beat contributors as I have, than there will be some overlap and this DID leave me bored some of the time. However, over all, this was a necessary read for me, it answered previous questions I had had about the chronology of events in the lives of some of my most celebrated writers, and it sparked an interest for me to revisit some of the old books on my shelf - all of which I plan to review here. At the same time I will be reliving the joys of those writers that made me love reading as much as I do today. I found at times, (and to be expected due to Morgans close relationship with Ginsberg),that Morgan is quite partial to Ginsberg and seems to say nothing overly controversial in regards to his former friend. Morgan is constantly reminding the reader, in his references to Ginsberg, that he was all too often the glue that held the Beat renaissance together, almost single-handedly it seems. Whether this is bias or not doesn't take away from the interest of the read. If you love The Beats, this is a must read!
I recommend this book for everyone who has had a love, at one time or another, for the key writers in what has come to be known as 'The Beat Generation'. Although some of the writers (ironically Kerouac) hated being associated with that title, this book gives great detail into the lives of each of the key players from that era. On one hand this book can act as a springboard into getting your Beat knowledge up to par before embarking on the long journey of familiarizing yourself with the writers from that time. However, this book can also act as a supplemental, filling in the blanks for someone who is already a seasoned Beat reader, and who has sampled many of the delights from them.
This book in this picture is 250 pages long (before source notes) and took me 2 days to read.
On my sliding scale I give this book a solid 9/10. I thoroughly enjoyed the way in which Morgan chronicled the instances of so many lives in a fashion that had readability with little effort. I have read many books on the individual lives of specific Beat writers, but never had I seen such a complete picture of what they were all doing at given points in history. Well worth the time to read.
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