ALLEN GINSBERG POETRY COLLECTION

It’s important to have a record of an author reading his own work, such as this 1995 performance of Ginsberg’s selected works. The material is personal, political, hortatory, sexual, satirical, and for the most part, thoughtful, funny, or touching. But this performance is primarily for students or devotees of Ginsberg, who was not a great reader. His voice is more nasal than sonorous. At times, he declaims the poetry like a prophet, but at others he tends toward an amateurish-sounding singsong delivery. His singing is painful, even with musical and vocal backup. The program includes a badly proofread booklet of reprinted poems, songs, and “random thoughts.” W.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 05]