This Is the Beat Generation New York, San Francisco, Paris

"The Beat phenomenon, which began in self-referentiality, quickly became a cliche: the Playboy interviews, the drunken talk-show appearances and the Rent-a-Beat services for those hip bourgeois who wanted to give parties that shocked the neighbors. Beat became beatnik. Campbell is best when he is deconstructing the cult of the Beats. He demolishes the myth of a spontaneous, three-day composition of ON THE ROAD, setting out Kerouac's extensive revisions; he is unflinching as he describes Kerouac's racism."Campbell, James is the author of 'This Is the Beat Generation New York, San Francisco, Paris', published 2001 under ISBN 9780520230330 and ISBN 0520230337.