Scratching the Beat Surface: Essays on New Vision from Blake to Kerouac

As a person fortunate enough to have met Michael McClure, it seems only natural that I would appreciate this book. However, I read this book a few years before I was actually privileged with Mr. McClure's presence. What I found so refreshing about this book is that not only are we, as readers, exposed to new insight into the Beat phenomenom but we are graced with the knowledge of someone who was there and lived it. McClure allows us into his mind and gives us a private tour of what many literary individuals have meant to him. While there are many wonderful and deserving books out there on the topic, one can't help but feel blessed upon discovering this beauty. I found that it not only allowed me to experience literature in a whole new element but it also allowed me to experience it through the eyes of a quiet master of the art. This is definitely a read that I highly recommend.