Beat culture is presented in this volume in words and pictures from the people who made it happen. It includes insights and reminiscences from many of the leading figures to provide a celebration of this chapter of social and literary history. The collection includes: essays written especially for the book by, among others, Carolyn Cassady, Hettie Jones, Ann Charters, David Amram, Stephen Davis, Douglas Brinkley, Anthony DeCurtis, Richard Hell; classic Rolling Stone pieces by William Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Lester Bangs, Robert Palmer, Michael McClure and others; reminiscences by Ken Kesey, Kurt Vonnegut, Lou Reed, Anne Waldman, Norman Mailer, Bono and Graham Parker; and photographs by Allen Ginsberg, Gerard Malanga, Annie Leibovitz, Mellon and more.