Mania: The Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Lives That Launched a Cultural Revolution

by Ronald K.L. Collins, David M. Skover

Overview

By the time Lucien Carr stabbed David Kammerer to death on the banks of the Hudson River in August 1944, it was clear that the hard-partying teenage companion to Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, and William S. Burroughs might need to reevaluate his life. A two-year stint in a reformatory straightened out the wayward youth but did little to curb the wild ways of his friends.

MANIA tells the story of this remarkable group—who strained against the conformity of postwar America, who experimented with drink, drugs, sex, jazz, and literature, and who yearned to be heard, to remake art and society in their own libertine image. What is more remarkable than the manic lives they led is that they succeeded—remaking their own generation and inspiring the ones that followed. From the breakthrough success of Kerouac's "On the Road" to the controversy of Ginsberg's "Howl" and Burroughs' "Naked Lunch," the counterculture was about to go mainstream for the first time, and America would never be the same again.

Based on more than eight years' writing and research, Ronald Collins and David Skover—authors of the highly acclaimed "The Trials of Lenny Bruce"—bring the stories of these artists, hipsters, hustlers, and maniacs to life in a dramatic, fast-paced, and often darkly comic narrative.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940016347837
Publisher:	Top Five Books
Publication date:	03/01/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ron Collins and David Skover have been writing together for almost three decades. In addition to MANIA, they have also coauthored three other books together—"The Death of Discourse" (1996), "The Trials of Lenny Bruce" (2002), and "Dissent" (2013). Ron, who grew up in Southern California and teaches at the University of Washington Law School, lives in Bethesda, MD. David, who grew up in Wisconsin and teaches at Seattle University Law School, lives in Seattle. Both have written numerous scholarly articles in journals such as the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and in the Supreme Court Review. Their previous book, "The Trials of Lenny Bruce," was chosen by the L.A. Times as one of the best books of the year for 2002.

Editorial Reviews

"Stunning, disturbing, and remarkably intimate….With MANIA, Collins and Skover provide readers with a rare close-up of the lives, the loves, the trials, and the tribulations of a handful of rebels who forged new cultural ground. It is likely this book will help assure that the key figures of the Beat Generation will not soon be forgotten."

ForeWord Reviews - Barry Silverstein

"Collins and Skover offer a vivid retelling...those in search of a good story and the raw, compelling 'feel' for the mindset and actions of the Beats will be rewarded....The madcap, savage world of the Beats is laid out in spades."

Publishers Weekly

"A balanced history—sometimes admiring, sometimes blistering—of the writers who fractured the glass capsule of literary conformity."

Kirkus Reviews