THE DAILY BEAT: June 2010

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Kerouac's last typewriter for sale

On June 22, Christie's will be auctioning off Jack's last typewriter. I am hoping that someone will snatch it up for me as a gift. It's only going to cost between $20-$30 thousand!

Click here for the listing.

P.S. Faithful readers of The Daily Beat will remember that I have opined about getting my hands on one of Jack's typewriters in an earlier post (click here).

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Peter Orlovsky

Peter Orlovsky, poet and Ginsberg muse/companion, died on Sunday.

Click here for a NY Times piece on the subject.

Offbeat by David Amram

Above is the cover of David Amram's book, Offbeat: Collaborating With Kerouac. We traded books at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! last October. Below is how he inscribed my copy.

David is an amazing musician. If you ever get the chance to see him perform, take it. You won't be disappointed.

Happy Birthday, Allen Ginsberg

Today is Allen Ginsberg's birthday, so we beat aficionados will be taking some time out of our day to read Howl or listen to Allen read it (click here).

Today's free-spirited youth wonder what the beat generation has to do with them. How ironic. Allen, forgive them for they know not whence they come.

And happy birthday!

Reviews of The Beat Handbook

Gerald Nicosia, author of the acclaimed Kerouac biography Memory Babe, said The Beat Handbook is "full of Jack's heart."

Jared Randall, author of the excellent book of poetry, Apocryphal Road Code, said this about The Beat Handbook: "Sometimes a book comes along at just the right time. In my wandering pack of experiences, I find they often do. Enter The Beat Handbook by Rick Dale."

Kenneth Morris, Kerouacian extraordinaire, said this:
"I just finished reading Rick Dale's beautiful utterance and call to action of Kerouac mind-set and zen sensibilities. It made me laugh and reflect on my own life and road I have naturally grooved into after absorbing the Kerouac canon. The road less traveled always had my name on it. And that has made all the difference. The Beat Handbook 100 Days of Kerouactions reaffirms the attitudes and ideology that made the Beats and Kerouac the important men of ideas that America (and the world) thirsted for, needed, and swallowed whole. Beautiful, absorbing, Top Ten whipsmart from my articulate, tender-hearted friend and fellow traveler. Highly recommended."