Family Business - Selected Letters Between a Father and Son (Paperback)

A touching look into the heart and family of one of America's greatest poets.
As a literary portrait of a father and son, little can match the eloquence and honesty of this collection of letters, written between Allen Ginsberg and his father, Louis, spanning the years 1944 to 1976. Their correspondence is filled with affection, respect, and a healthy dose of argumentative zeal-they debate every major political and artistic issue that faced America in over three decades of extraordinary change. But the letters also tell of a strong bond of intimacy and affection between the two, revealing just how crucial that closeness was to the development of Allen Ginsberg's art.
Michael Schumacher wrote "Dharma Lion," the acclaimed biography of Allen Ginsberg, and is also the author of biographies of Eric Clapton, Phil Ochs, and Francis Ford Coppola. He began researching "Family Business "in 1994, when Ginsberg first agreed to the project.
"Family Business "is a touching look into the heart and family of one of America's greatest poets. As a literary portrait of a father and son, little can match the eloquence and honesty of this collection of letters, written between the years 1944 and 1976.
The correspondence between Allen Ginsberg and his father, Louis, begins when Allen is a precocious, rebellious college student, and it charts his ascension as a revolutionary icon in poetry. Their letters are filled with affection, respect, and a healthy dose of argumentative zeal--they debate every major political and artistic issue that faced America in over three decades of extraordinary change. Their correspondence also reveals the defining moments that shaped Allen's art--his experimentation with LSD, his various love affairs and obsessions, his travels around the globe. We see, from this unique perspective, the crucial process of a poet's widening experience of the world, and how these experiences are translated into his art.
"Family Business "is not only a personal glimpse into one of our great poets, but also a very moving story of a relationship between a father and a son set against the turbulent world of postwar America.
"An absorbing and often moving record of an intense relationship . . . We have here an important part of the record of a major figure's development, and a rare example of the power of certain family pieties."--"The New York Times Book Review"
"This volume . . . presents some of the most astonishing correspondence in American literature . . . Anyone interested in either Ginsberg, the beats, American poetry or the '60s should not miss this ferociously tender and comical collection."--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
"Surprisingly poignant . . . An eloquent, affecting collection that offers lessons in poetry, in love, and in family."--"Kirkus Reviews" (starred review)
"Their correspondence demonstrates a mutual respect, a strong desire for reconciliation, and pride in each other's poetic accomplishments . . . Highly recommended."--William Gargan, Brooklyn College Library, CUNY, "Library Journal"
"As much an intellectual exchange of ideas as a personal family dialogue, these letters provide material for studies of differences between two generations of writers who had much to say regarding US culture."--"Choice"
"Tracing their journey toward a shared conviction that poetry has the power to change history makes "Family Business" important reading for us all."--"The San Francisco Chronicle"