The Beats: A Graphic History



A gaggle of contributing authors and artists make this detailed history of the Beat movement enjoyable. In particular, Joyce Brabner's piece, Beatnik Chicks, sheds light on an oft skipped over topic: Beat women and the issues they faced. She describes beat men as "self-styled Odysseans whose abandoned children grew up angry like Jan Kerouac." Harvey Pekar's section (art by Ed Piskor) on Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs is illuminating, even for someone who has extensively studied the Beats. A must read for anyone interested in the subject.

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