Gregory Corso

This supplement of American Writers, the twelfth, is largely concerned with a range of contemporary writers, poets, and novelists, many of whom have won large and enthusiastic audiences for their work, although criticism has yet to catch up with them. The function of these essays is quite simple: to provide introductory criticism that treats the developing career of each writer in the context of his or her life circumstances. While the essays are not necessarily mini-biographies, they all provide key markers in each life, and they suggest ways in which the books produced by each writer might be read in the context of those biographical markers.

Legendary filmmaker Peter Whitehead was at the heart of Swinging London, chronicling the youth explosion, the burgeoning popular music scene and the counterculture of the 1960s. In March the National Film Theatre hosted a comprehensive retrospective of his work. This DVD features two of his films; Wholly Communion (1965) and Benefit of the Doubt (1967), coupled with a new interview with Peter and additional rare footage. With over three hours of material, Peter Whitehead and the Sixties is a fascinating document of the radical, experimental, literary and theatrical scenes of 60s London.

Greenwich Village, 6 marzo 1970. Tre esplosioni in rapida sequenza sventrano l'elegante palazzo al numero 18 dell'Undicesima Strada Ovest; dalle fiamme escono, confuse ma illese, due ragazze seminude. Domato l'incendio, le forze dell'ordine trovano in cantina più di sessanta candelotti di dinamite, una bomba anticarro e tutto l'occorrente che sarebbe servito al gruppo terroristico Weather Underground per produrre altri ordigni. È l'atto di nascita degli anni Settanta e Barry Miles è a New York per registrarne i primi, turbolenti vagiti. Giornalista inglese sbarcato negli Stati Uniti per lavorare con i grandi della Beat Generation, Miles attraversa la decade più anticonformista e trasgressiva del Novecento e ne sperimenta in prima persona la genialità e gli eccessi..