People v. Ferlinghetti

The Fight to Publish Allen Ginsberg's Howl

Inbunden, Engelska, 2019

579 kr

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Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s name does not appear in any First Amendment treatise or casebook. And yet when the best-selling poet and proprietor of City Lights Books was indicted under California law for publishing and selling Allen Ginsberg’s poem, Howl, Ferglinghetti buttressed the tradition of dissident expression and ended an era when minds were still closed, candid literature still taboo, and when selling banned books was considered a crime. The People v. Ferlinghetti is the story of a rebellious poet, a revolutionary poem, an intrepid book publisher, and a bookseller unintimidated by federal or local officials. There is much color in that story: the bizarre twists of the trial, the swagger of the lead lawyer, the savvy of the young ACLU lawyer, and the surprise verdict of the Sunday school teacher who presided as judge. With a novelist’s flair, noted free speech authorities, Ronald K. L. Collins and David Skover tell the true story of an American maverick who refused to play it safe and who in the process gave staying power to freedom of the press in America. The People v. Ferlinghetti will be of interest to anyone interested the history of free speech in America and the history of the Beat poets.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2019-03-24
Mått155 x 223 x 22 mm
Vikt399 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor216
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781538125892

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Amerikas historia inom Historia och arkeologi

Lawyers Collins and Skover offer a mix of literary and legal history that builds steam as it arrives at its high point: the 1957 obscenity trial over the publication of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.” In the early chapters, the authors offer background on Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the Sorbonne PhD who opened City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco in 1953 and became a strong supporter of beat literature. They trace, too, Ginsberg’s composition of “Howl” and his relationship with Ferlinghetti, a daring but careful publisher of his work. The authors are at their strongest describing the trial, clearly explaining the legal issues at stake. . . . .[An] intriguing epilogue on Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti’s legacy, and an appendix that for the first time publishes the judge’s full opinion in The People v. Ferlinghetti, add value to a worthwhile effort.