Beat It

Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs need no
introduction, but here they are introducing The Beats: A Graphic
History (Hill and Wang) — in the section written by Harvey
Pekar and illustrated by Ed Piskor. It’s warts and all: the
alcohol-fueled writings, the drug-fueled globe-trotting, not to mention
the rampant sexuality and jaw-dropping misogyny.

Here’s Kerouac the homophobic bisexual crazy for Neal Cassady but as
for Gore Vidal? Not so much. After Kerouac and Vidal had sex, the
former labeled the latter “a pompous little fag.” Here’s Ginsberg,
watching the best minds of his generation destroyed but recommending
that teachers bed their students. And here’s Burroughs announcing,
“Women are mistakes and should be eliminated from the population.” So
he shot his wife dead.

Good thing, then, that The Beats (edited by Paul Buhle)
doesn’t ignore the distaff side. Here’s poet Diane di Prima (in the
words of Pekar and the art of Mary Fleener), a woman quite capable of
taking on the big boys, and here’s painter Jay DeFeo (in the words of
Trina Robbins and the art of Anne Timmons) finally finishing her
painting The Rose (eight years in the making), which was the
death of her — from cancer via lead poisoning. (Note to painters:
Don’t lick the tips of your brushes to arrive at a fine point.) But
there’s humor here too by Joyce Brabner and Summer McClinton on a topic
ripe for latter-day ridicule: “Beatnik Chicks.”

Good thing too that Pekar et al. salute some lesser lights in this
primer on the birth of the cool: City Lights bookstore founder and poet
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, in addition to poets Philip Whalen, Kenneth
Patchen, and D.A. Levy, plus former hobo Slim Brundage. Brundage’s
College of Complexes in Chicago, a “universal venue” for new ideas
circa the ’50s and ’60s, was famous also for attracting the likes of
Carl Sandburg, Duke Ellington, Studs Terkel, and Tony Bennett. And then
there’s Tuli Kupferberg, in the words of Kupferberg himself (art by
Jeffrey Lewis).

Who is Tuli Kupferberg? He’s a poet, cartoonist, and self-described
pacifist anarchist. He was also the man behind the Fugs. But readers of
this chapter of The Beats may find the images and text so
crammed better to go to the source: the music of the Fugs, called, in
the words of Kupferberg, “the most outrageous rock band of all time.”
Which is saying a lot. But hey. The man’s 87, and, given this bunch,
that alone says a lot. He survived.

How many times, as commander in chief of a national army, have you
had your prize warrior win a prize of war (e.g., an enemy maiden) that
you thought rightfully yours? Then the gods get into it, and what began
as your own business takes on an epic quality.

You’re not alone. Agamemnon and Achilles in the Iliad dealt
with the same issues (personal ambition, public humiliation, etc.).
Shakespeare dealt with those issues too. And on Thursday, April 30th,
the Memphis Public Library & Information Center is getting in on
the act as well: It’s hosting an actor’s workshop and performance by
New York’s Aquila Theatre.

As part of a national Endowment for the Humanities collaboration
called “Page and Stage: The Power of the Iliad Today,” the
workshop at 2 p.m. will address the Homeric themes in Shakespeare’s
plays. (And no, no acting experience is required to attend the
workshop; even onlookers are invited to watch.) At 4 p.m., Aquila takes
to the stage with The Iliad: Book One, a
production that The New York Times hailed as “a performance of
staggering power” when the play premiered at Lincoln Center.

The workshop and performance are at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central
Library, and be on hand too on Sunday, when Clint Eastwood’s
Unforgiven will be shown at 2 p.m. After the screening, Kenneth
Morrell, chair of the Greek & Roman Studies department at Rhodes
College, will discuss the Homeric aspects of the film.

“We are very excited that the Memphis Public Library &
Information Center was selected as a venue for this performance,” says
Keenon McCloy, director of the city’s libraries and commenting on the
Aquila’s visit. “The Iliad is a cultural artifact for everyone.
Aquila Theatre has created a quality production, and by virtue of the
performance being held in a library, it will expose customers to a
theater experience they might not otherwise have.”

That’s Aquila’s mission too: bringing theater to communities —
both inner-city and rural — that are often under-served.

For more information on these events (all of them free), call the
library at 415-2700 or go to memphislibrary.org.