Allen Ginsberg Reads Howl And Other Poems

Published in 1956 as the title poem of Allen Ginsberg's first collection, "Howl" is a prophetic masterpiece that overcame censorship trails to become one of the most widely read poems of the century. The annotated Howl is the poet's own re-creation of the long process of composition of a revolutionary poem that broke new ground in America poetry through its expansive poetic form, tonal range, and freshness of spirit.

"Ginsberg is responsible for loosening the breath of American poetry at mid-century...Most of all, [he] has demonstrated that there is nothing in America social and erotic reality which cannot find a place [there]...[His] powerful mixture of Blake, Whitman, Pound, and Williams, to which he added his own volatile, grotesque, and tender humor, has assured him a memorable place in modern poetry."(— Helen Vendler)