Collected Poems 1947-1997

This book contains almost all of Ginsberg's poetry. If you are one of those people that must have all of his poems, a great purchase would be The Book of Martyrdom and Artifice. It is his journals and early poems from 1937-1952. You will have every poem that he wrote and his journal. Also, you can buy his book of letters too.

Allen Ginsberg's work is powerful. I highly recommend this book! Although not always as cheerful as you may wish him to be, Ginsberg brings the reality of life to these poems.

Ginsberg's poems are the bardic cries of the American counter-culture. His recitation of "Howl" in a San Francisco bookstore in 1955 changed America and the world forever. How one poem can have such an effect is astounding and I can think of no other poetic work that has had such an impact. Regardless of one's political or religious leanings, if one is to seriously study and read American poetry, then one must come to terms with the works of Allen Ginsberg. This volume contains it all.

Americans who can't name five poets will name Allen Ginsberg. In this case, that is good since he was one of America's Greatest Poets. This book attest to this. I write this review to show disappointment in the publisher who continues to publish the collected works on the cheapest paper next to newsprint. For the next edition, I would like to see, at least in limited edition, a volume printed on quality paper which could last more than a few years before turning yellow. Ginsbergs deserves better treatment.

I just finished reading Ginsberg's collected poems, 1947-1997 -- fifty years and over a thousand pages of poetry. My overall impression is that he was probably the kindest, most moral member of the beat generation. When the other beats were penniless & borrowing money, Ginsberg was the one they borrowed money from. Corso would steal Ginsberg's manuscripts and sell them to used book dealers to score heroin, and each time Ginsberg would walk down to the book dealer and buy back his priceless words. Where Kerouac preached his own version of buddhism and gave it up a few years later for alcoholic catholicism, Ginsberg remained a dedicated student of buddhist compassion to the end of his days. And that's what shines thru in many of these poems -- compassion, attention to the present, and the courage to be so honest about his life and his feelings. Many of these poems are raw, experimental, informal, and spontaneous, almost like journal entries. He wrote numerous classics -- Pull My Daisy (written with Kerouac & Cassady in 1949), Howl, America, Kaddish, Mescaline, Lysergic Acid, Wichita Vortex Sutra, Wales Visitation, Elegy for Neal Cassady, and Memory Gardens (elegy for Jack Kerouac), among others. Some of the most common themes are world travel, nature, daily events, progressive politics, the US invasion of Vietnam, the peace movement, road trips, drug use, the beats, gay sex, hinduism, buddhism, death, and love. In other words, Ginsberg wrote about his life. He talks about his friends dying, his father dying, his mother's insanity and death, his loves, his joys, and whatever is pressing and interesting to him at the moment. Some of the poems are better than others, but I can't imagine there's a more honest poet out there. Casual readers of the beats will likely want to skip around and read a poem here, a poem there, just checking out the highlights. But even for casual readers, there's no sense in buying Ginsberg's small City Lights books -- just buy this big book so you can have it all.