South American Journals: January-July 1960

by Allen Ginsberg, Michael Schumacher (Editor)

Overview

The great Beat poet’s observations, reflections, poetry, and mind-expanding explorations while traveling through South America

 

When Allen Ginsberg went to South America in 1960, ostensibly to attend a literary conference, he had a different kind of trip in mind. This would be another experience in the Beat poet’s journey deep into the realm of consciousness, the inward travel explored to exhilarating effect in his writing—whether in the poetry that had already earned him international acclaim or in the idiosyncratic journals that raised self-documentation to a new form of art. In his South American Journals, covering a tumultuous six months, Ginsberg describes his travels through Chile and Peru, his visit to Machu Picchu, and his search for a source for ayahuasca, or yagé, a mind-expanding drug recommended by his friend William S. Burroughs, another writer well traveled in altered states of consciousness.

Far from quotidian diary entries, Ginsberg’s observations in these pages, interspersed with poetry, dream notations, and musings about spirituality, amount to a critical chapter in the poet’s informal autobiography. Writing more during these six months than in any of his other journals, Ginsberg summons great ferment. In his distinctive accounts of all that he encounters, elevating travel writing to lyrical expression; in an abundance of poems published here for the first time, in both first drafts and polished forms; in his reports of fascinating conversations; and, in particular, in detailed passages that delve into inner recesses of his consciousness, Ginsberg recreates a journey like no other, one that reflects the workings of one of the best minds of his generation in the world of his own making and in its mysterious, immutable counterpart in the South American landscape. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452962177
Publisher:	University of Minnesota Press
Publication date:	11/19/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997) was born in Newark, New Jersey. As a student at Columbia College in the 1940s, he began a close friendship with William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and Jack Kerouac, and he became associated with the Beat movement and the San Francisco Renaissance in the 1950s. After jobs as a laborer, sailor, and market researcher, he published his first volume of poetry, Howl and Other Poems, in 1956. “Howl” defeated censorship trials to become one of the most widely read poems of the twentieth century.

Michael Schumacher is author of Dharma Lion, the acclaimed biography of Allen Ginsberg, and editor of First Thought: Conversations with Allen Ginsberg and Iron Curtain Journals: January–May 1965 (all from Minnesota). He is also editor of The Essential Ginsberg.

Editorial Reviews

10/28/2019

Scholars and fans will appreciate the rich source material and skillful editing in this generous edition of the poet’s South American journals, from Ginsberg biographer Schumacher (Dharma Lion). Chronicling a six-month trip through Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, and Peru in 1960, the journals include observations on South American life and politics, recollections of vivid dreams and random thoughts, and drafts of many poems published later, here seen in their original context. Ginsberg’s erotic longings appear recurrently—especially those for lover Peter Orlovsky, though in Peru, Ginsberg records in detail an erotic dream featuring friend Neal Cassady—as do unvarnished glimpses of mid-century queer culture. The journals also reveal Ginsberg’s sense of encroaching age—at only “33 1/2” years old—and longing for bygone days with such fellow beat writers as Kerouac (“All that time in San Francisco’s gone away—but could come back if we all collected there again”) even as he seeks to expand his mental horizons through the psychedelic drug ayahuasca. Perhaps most notably, the book reveals Ginsberg’s raw poetic talent: even in rough draft, his compositions often soar. Graced with a clear chronology and with facsimiles of original journal pages, this well-edited volume offers a welcome addition to beat generation scholarship. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"This collection has been expertly edited by Michael Schumacher, whose uncanny ability to formulate a coherent text from random journal entries without interfering with the rhythm of Ginsberg’s breath and line structure adds to the over-all power of Journals. As noted, the book brings us Ginsberg’s uncensored mind as he experiences the countrysides of South America, with snippets of poems interspersed with journal jottings offering a sweet and intimate glimpse of a major literary force in his formative years."—Electric Review

"While some of the journal entries read like stream-of-consciousness gibberish, there are moments of radiant, robust poetry reminiscent of Walt Whitman and the mystical, prophetic rapture of William Blake."—Gay Lesbian Review

"Perhaps most notably, the book reveals Ginsberg’s raw poetic talent: even in rough draft, his compositions often soar. Graced with a clear chronology and with facsimiles of original journal pages, this well-edited volume offers a welcome addition to beat generation scholarship."—Publishers Weekly

"Copious and valuable source material provide students and scholars with noteworthy and new information about the poet. Those interested in the relationship between Eros and Thanatos in Ginsberg’s life and work will be especially rewarded."—Library Journal

"Edited with care to preserve Ginsberg’s idiosyncrasies, South American Journals features heightened spiritual longing and despair. It is essential to understanding Ginsberg, both as a pivotal poet and as a man."—Foreword Reviews

"Ginsberg's South American Journals is a gorgeous book. Its cover is riveting graphically, and its text is well formatted and gratifyingly easy to read."—CHOICE

From the Publisher

10/25/2019

Ably edited by Schumacher (Dharma Lion: A Biography of Allen Ginsberg), this second in a series of three projected volumes of Ginsberg's unpublished travel journals covers the poet's trip to South America from January to July, 1960. The entries include descriptions of Ginsberg's adventures in Chile and Peru, his climb of Machu Picchu, his experiments with mind-altering drugs, and a record of his dreams. At the youthful age of 33, Ginsberg is obsessed with his mortality, struggling to come to terms with the meaning of life and the nature of the "Great Being." Awake and asleep, he encounters memento mori that serve to reinforce his fixation, culminating in a series of visions resulting from encounters with the hallucinogenic plant ayahuasca, or yage—experiences later recounted in The Yage Letters, coauthored with William S. Burroughs. The journal also features previously unpublished poetry, as well as first drafts of a few published poems, including "Magic Psalm"; a selection of drawings and photos; and two letters that provide a wider context: one to Ginsberg's father, Louis, and another to his partner, Peter Orlovsky. VERDICT Copious and valuable source material provide students and scholars with noteworthy and new information about the poet. Those interested in the relationship between Eros and Thanatos in Ginsberg's life and work will be especially rewarded.—William Gargan, emeritus, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY

Library Journal