About the Book

The first of three in a series of Ginsberg's unpublished travel journals A travel guide through one of the best minds of the Beat Generation - distinctly not destroyed by madness - Allen Ginsberg's journals are more tour de force than simple diaries, charting his poetry, political antics, and high-profile encounters behind the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War. Between jotting first drafts of well-known poems and composing others not seen until now, Ginsberg manages to get himself deported from Cuba - to, of all places, Prague, where he also eventually finds himself unwelcome. Meanwhile, in characteristically colorful fashion, he details his provocations and pranks, his encounters with other poets, curious citizens, and celebrities, and his pointed, often moving observations as he makes his way to Russia (land of his heritage) , to Poland and the Warsaw Ghetto, and to Auschwitz.