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Chapter One “This is the Beat Generation”1 Introduction In 1945 two major events occurred which dramatically impacted upon the course and direction of American history. World War Two ended and Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. World War II climaxed with the dropping of the atom bomb upon the Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atom bomb created a new kind of warfare, one which America held the monopoly over, at least for the time being. Its existence and usage transformed international relations irreversibly and helped create a new bi-polar world in which the Democratic United States and the Communist USSR vied for power. Roosevelt, the longest reigning president in America history, died in 1945, and was succeeded by his vice president Harry S. Truman. Roosevelt had endured four terms as President and many Americans who had known Roosevelt in this capacity for so long doubted if there was any other suitable alternative. The American nation had some very interesting decisions to make nationally and internationally in the post-war years. Would it decide to look back to a time before the New Deal Democrats and the dropping of the Atom bomb or forward into new and unknown territory? Journalist Gilbert Millstein, quoting John Aldridge, commented that: There were four choices open to the post-war writer: novelistic journalism or journalistic novel-writing; what little subject-matter had not been fully exploited already (homosexuality, racial conflict), pure technique (for lack of something to say), or the course I feel Kerouac has taken – assertion ‘of the need for belief even though it is upon a background in which belief is impossible and in which the symbols are ‘lacking’ for a genuine affirmation on genuine terms.’2 1 Title taken from: John Clellon Holmes, “This is the Beat Generation,” The New York Times, 16 November 1952. 2 Gilbert Millstein, “Books of the Times,” The New York Times, 5 September 1957. 1 This “assertion for the need for belief even though it is upon a background in which belief is impossible”3 came to characterise not only Kerouac’s literary style but also the youth of the postwar generation who bought his literature and who thought that Kerouac had written their book. The disruptive events of the previous decades had instilled in Kerouac, as with the other people of his general age group, a sense of distrust of international, collective agreements at the political level. The result of this was the alienation of a large number of people, particularly the young, from major world events. In response to this alienation this group began to look inward rather than outward for direction. Kerouac was a prime example of this inward search. He dispatched with commonly regarded outward symbols and measures of success such as football and university to embark upon the task of writing. William S. Burroughs commented that “Jack Kerouac knew about writing when I first met him in 1944 when he was 21. Already he had written a million words and was completely dedicated to his chosen trade.”4 Going against his family’s wishes, Kerouac had given up on real world ambitions. In place of these he embarked upon an individualistic inward search. The impression many people got of Kerouac, like the others of his age who gave up on achieving these outward signs of success, was one of paradox. Allen Ginsberg commented on his first impression of Kerouac that “I remember being awed by him and amazed by him, because I’d never met a big jock who was sensitive and intelligent about poetry.”5 His father is recorded as 3 John Clellon Homes, “This is the Beat Generation.” 4 William S. Burroughs to Ann Charters, n.d. Box 18g, Papers of Jack Kerouac, NYPL. 5 Matt Theado, ed. The Beats: A Literary Reader. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003. 19. 2 having said to Kerouac, “forget this writing stuff, Jean, it’ll never pay. You’re such a good student – sure you’ll go to college, get a job. Stop dreaming!”6 John Clellon Holmes commented in his article from which this chapter takes its name that “any attempt to label an entire generation is unrewarding, and yet the generation which went through the last war, or at least could get a drink easily once it was over, seems to possess a uniform, general quality which demands an adjective.”7 The adjective which Clellon Holmes used to describe this “uniform, general quality” was that this generation was beat. He had taken the word from a meeting which he had held with Kerouac in which the two were attempting to locate what was unique about their generation separating it from the generation before and after. Kerouac recalls in an article written for the fairly new and vogue Playboy magazine how he came up with title. It was When John Clellon Holmes (author of Go and The Horn) and I were sitting around trying to think up the meaning of the Lost Generation and the subsequent Existentialism and I said ‘You know, this is really a beat generation’ and he leapt up and said ‘That’s it, that’s right.’8 There was something about the way this word sounded and how Kerouac applied the term that seemed to describe the postwar generation of which both Clellon Holmes and Kerouac were a part, and both agreed upon it. There was something about this term that uncovered what they were trying to say about the generation. This meeting took place during 1948 and the word beat had, of course, been in existence far longer than this. Its exact origin is as debated as its meaning, but there is no doubt that in this new context (being applied to the postwar generation) the word took on a new meaning, perhaps the one it is best known for today. 6 Steve Watson. The Birth of the Beat Generation: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters, 1944 – 1960. New York: Pantheon, 1995. 23. 7 John Clellon Holmes, “This is the Beat Generation.” 8 Jack Kerouac, “The Origins of the Beat Generation,” Playboy Magazine, June 1959. 3 Kerouac had first heard the word beat used by Herbert Huncke,9 a Times Square hang-out who had a history of prostitution and drug taking. When Kerouac heard Huncke say beat first around about 1944 he instantly took note of it. Huncke seemed to personify the state of being beat: beaten down, downtrodden. Kerouac liked the sound of this term and its implications. From this time onward Kerouac used this term often in conversation with friends and in his experiments with writing. The statement beat first appeared in print in Kerouac’s first published work The Town and the City which appeared in 1950. It appears as merely one in a book of 400 pages which was edited down from over 1100. One review reads, “a first novel of moral strength. Recommended, but not for the faint-hearted.”10 Heavy references, both in model and in style, were made to Thomas Wolfe who was Kerouac’s literary idol. The work was good enough in quality to earn Kerouac a $1000 advance, but did not achieve anything remarkable in sales. Most of the attention paid to this work has been done since Kerouac achieved greater literary success. In 1952 Clellon Holmes published his first book Go, which is based upon much the same material and time period as Kerouac’s Town and the City, the period of time in which the authors of the Beat Generation came together centred around Columbia University in New York during the mid 1940s. While Go did not do anything remarkable in sales either, it is significant as being the first Beat Generation book. While Kerouac’s first novel followed the long, drawn out style of Wolfe and is written in stark contrast to 9 Herbert Huncke, though more commonly associated with another “Beat Generation” writer William S. Burroughs, was of profound interest to Kerouac who once wrote of him, “America goes “Blast” – fine people like Huncke will be buried under the Stucco hotel ruins – ah – Lucien will rave.” Sketchbook one of ten, “Passing Through,” Box 18c, Papers of Jack Kerouac, NYPL. 10 Matt Theado, ed. The Beats: A Literary Reference. 140. 4 his later work which comprised the Dulouz Legend, this publication was written more in style with later beat works and for this the significance of the book is two-fold. In this publication the word beat, being used in this context, makes another printed appearance. Clellon Holmes originally intended on publishing the book under the original title Beat Generation. However Kerouac, upon whom the character Pasternak of this book was based, had other designs for the phrase did not allowed this and Clellon Holmes was forced to change the title.11 The publication of this novel is not insignificant in the development of the term and idea of the Beat Generation. Following its publication Clellon Holmes was prompted by journalist and reviewer Gilbert Millstein, who was alerted to this emerging literary group, to write an article about what was typical about the characters and lifestyle he was portraying. Clellon Holmes came up with the article “This is the Beat Generation” which appeared in the New York Times Magazine following the publication of his book. This newspaper article served to bring the term to an even wider audience than it had previously been given. The article attracted a wider attention and brought Kerouac and Clellon Holmes wider recognition and some figures among the establishment began to pay them more notice. In this lengthy article, Clellon Holmes explores the history and origin of the word beat and phrase beat generation.

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