Wednesday 9 January 2013

Herbert Huncke (9/1/15 -8/8/96) - Original Beat


Herbert Huncke is the pivotal figure in the develpoment of beat literature. Huncke's use of the carny term beat in his stories of riding the rails in the thirties inspired Jack Kerouac to chronicle his own tale of rootless wandering in On the Road. He turned William Burroughs onto heroin, and appears as a character in Burroughs Junky, the first step in an immersion in addict culture that would produce Naked Lunch, and the image of Huncke's shoes filled with blood traming 42nd Street gave Allen Ginsberg the very model of the angel-headed hipster in his seminal poem Howl. He got to the ripe old age of 81, he would have neen 98 today, so happy birthday Herbert,thanks.
I recommend any of his books, if you can get hold of them, seminal and in my opinion the work of genius.

MORE HERE

Link to rather wonderful " from dream to dream" album

from the rather wonderful devotional hooligan blogspot
http://devotionalhooligan.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/herbert-huncke-from-dream-to-dream.html

and here

http://ginsbergblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/herbert-hunckes-birthday.html

2 comments:

  1. Funny, am just reading Beatscene..interview with Joyce Johnson's new book re Kerouac etc plus Ann Charters...good to hear this thanks

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  2. nice one, Beatscene have not read for a while, but it is a lovely magazine.......regards

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