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Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The People V. Ferlinghetti: The Fight to Publish Allen Ginsberg's Howl

The People V. Ferlinghetti: The Fight to Publish Allen Ginsberg's Howl

Hardcover

Business of Writing20th Century United States HistorySocial Movements

ISBN10: 1538125897
ISBN13: 9781538125892
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: Mar 24 2019
Pages: 216
Weight: 0.80
Height: 0.90 Width: 5.80 Depth: 8.80
Language: English

Lawrence Ferlinghetti's name does not appear in any First Amendment treatise or casebook. And yet when the best-selling poet and proprietor of City Lights Books was indicted under California law for publishing and selling Allen Ginsberg's poem, Howl, Ferglinghetti buttressed the tradition of dissident expression and ended an era when minds were still closed, candid literature still taboo, and when selling banned books was considered a crime.

The People v. Ferlinghetti is the story of a rebellious poet, a revolutionary poem, an intrepid book publisher, and a bookseller unintimidated by federal or local officials. There is much color in that story: the bizarre twists of the trial, the swagger of the lead lawyer, the savvy of the young ACLU lawyer, and the surprise verdict of the Sunday school teacher who presided as judge. With a novelist's flair, noted free speech authorities, Ronald K. L. Collins and David Skover tell the true story of an American maverick who refused to play it safe and who in the process gave staying power to freedom of the press in America. The People v. Ferlinghetti will be of interest to anyone interested the history of free speech in America and the history of the Beat poets.

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20th Century United States History