In 2002, Beat and counterculture photographer Larry Keenan asked me to build a website to document forty years of his Beat Generation and counterculture photography. Working with him and learning about his vast archive of photos was a treat. After Larry's … [Read more...]
An interview with Richard Kigel, author of Heav’nly Tidings From the Afric Muse: The Grace and Genius of Phillis Wheatley
Richard Kigel is a historian and educator with an interest in 18th and 19th-century American history. His first book, Becoming Abraham Lincoln: The Coming of Age of Our Greatest President, recounts Lincoln's early life using firsthand accounts. … [Read more...]
All-art issue: in memory of Eileen Enck
This special all-art issue is dedicated to the memory of my late mother-in-law, Eileen Enck. Born in January, she owned the Eileen Enck Gallery in Bellevue, Washington where she featured the work of many Pacific Northwest artists. While the style of … [Read more...]
The 1899 Commissioner of the General Land Office meets Sylvia A. Perkins, lover of Floral Poetry
I found the book, written by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in a dusty bookcase in a dark little room toward the back of a secondhand shop in Snohomish, Washington. The gilded lettering on the battered spine read Annual Reports of the … [Read more...]
Heroin Haikus by William Wantling, reviewed
Heroin Haikus by William Wantling / Tangerine Press / 2016 / 20 pages / 978-1-910691-18-2 William Wantling's Heroin Haikus, out of print for fifty years, was recently published in a new edition by London's Tangerine Press. The book's last page … [Read more...]
Let’s Dance: Photographs by Russell Lee, McIntosh County, Okla. ca. 1939
Photographer Russell Lee (1903-1986) traveled the United States taking photos of rural life for the Farm Security Administration from 1936-1943. One night in 1939 or '40 he photographed a dance in a house in rural Oklahoma. Here's what he saw. … [Read more...]
Book Review – Kenton Crowther’s Kerouac on the Binge
Kenton Crowther's latest short e-book, a 3200-word essay titled Kerouac on the Binge (perhaps rather indelicately), is not an in-depth study of the author and his work, but rather the thoughtful musings of one who has read Kerouac's works in depth, and … [Read more...]
An interview with Michael Guerin of the Diartspora Gallery
Michael Guerin is the owner of the Diartspora Gallery, a private art collection focusing upon African-American art, and the art of the African diaspora. Collected over a period of over 20 years, the collection includes many pieces by self-taught and … [Read more...]
Book Review: Henry Miller: Ahead of the Game by Kenton Crowther
Kenton Crowther's 3100-word essay, Henry Miller: Ahead of the Game has just become available in digital form. In it, Crowther shines a little light on Miller as a writer and as a man, exploring his life, sensibilities, and ongoing relevance. It's not … [Read more...]
Review: The Doors Examined by Jim Cherry
The Doors Examined by Jim Cherry / Bennion Kearny Limited / paperback / 978-1909125124 / 240 pages Journalist and author Jim Cherry has a long history with rock 'n' roll journalism, and currently writes the column, "The Doors Examiner." The Doors … [Read more...]
10 places to find reviewers for your self-published book
Self-publishing is a great way to get your book into the world. But when you self-publish, you take on all the responsibilities that a traditional publisher usually would, including marketing the book, soliciting reviews, sending out review copies, and … [Read more...]
beyond the ghosts: poems by t. kilgore splake
beyond the ghosts: poems by t. kilgore splake / Presa Press / PO Box 792, Rockford MI 49341 / 35 pages / $6.00 The author provided a copy to Empty Mirror, with no expectation of review. t. kilgore splake knows how to draw an evocative picture … [Read more...]
Book Review — Grand Marais by t. kilgore splake
Grand Marais by t. kilgore splake / paperback, with DVD / 978-1-4675-8222-3 t. kilgore splake's latest volume is a poetic and photographic celebration of Grand Marais, Minnesota, a small city on the shore of Lake Superior. splake's roots go deep … [Read more...]
Hammond Guthrie’s AsEverWas: Memoirs of a Beat Survivor
AsEverWas: Memoirs of a Beat Survivor by Hammond Guthrie / 2nd edition / Jorvik Press / 978-0988412231 / paperback, 296 pages The publisher provided Empty Mirror with a review copy. When the counterculture was busy being born in Los Angeles and San … [Read more...]
For collectors: where and how to buy Beat Generation books (and others)
We've gathered together booksellers, publishers, and other services for book collectors of all stripes. Please get in touch if you'd like to suggest a resource for this list. Booksellers - Beat, small press & poetry Beat booksellers The … [Read more...]
Review – The Stray Bullet: William S. Burroughs in Mexico
The Stray Bullet: William S. Burroughs in Mexico by Jorge García-Robles, translated by Daniel C. Schechter / University of Minnesota Press / paperback / 978-0816680634 / 176 pages / October 2013 In 1990, Jorge García-Robles, professor of … [Read more...]
Review – Les Paul: The Lost Interviews by Jim O’Donnell
Les Paul: The Lost Interviews: Five Never-Before-Published Talks With a Guitar Genius by Jim O'Donnell / 978-1492218913 / 152 pages What comes to mind when you hear the name "Les Paul"? Maybe the iconic guitar, launched at the dawn of rock and roll and … [Read more...]
Book Review – Erik Verhaar’s Andalusian Dogging
Andalusian Dogging by Erik Verhaar, translated by Jonathan Ellis / The Reception Game / 2013 / 17 pages In Erik Verhaar's short story, inspired by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali's 1929 film An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou), the film itself becomes a … [Read more...]
Review – The Beats: A Very Short Introduction by David Sterritt
The Beats: A Very Short Introduction by David Sterritt / Oxford University Press / 978-0-19-979677-9 / 126 pages David Sterritt's work might be familiar to Beat or film aficionados through his previous books, which include Mad to be Saved: The Beats, … [Read more...]
How to Identify a First Edition Book
This page has lots of information on it! Here are some quick links to the most important topics. General guidelines for identifying a first edition Identifying 1st editions from specific publishers Identifying book club editions On printings & … [Read more...]
John J. Dorfner on Jack Kerouac’s Induction into the Rocky Mount Hall of Fame
John J. Dorfner is the author of two books on Jack Kerouac, Kerouac: Visions of Lowell and Kerouac: Visions of Rocky Mount. In them, he delves into Kerouac's life in Lowell, Massachusetts, and in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Dorfner recently was … [Read more...]
Book Review – What Poets Are Like: Up and Down with the Writing Life by Gary Soto
What Poets Are Like: Up and Down with the Writing Life / Gary Soto / Sasquatch Books / 978-1570618741 / 208 pages What Poets Are Like: Up and Down with the Writing Life collects sixty short essays by Gary Soto. Soto is an acclaimed American poet, as … [Read more...]
Book Review – Love Him Madly: An Intimate Memoir of Jim Morrison, by Judy Huddleston
Love Him Madly: An Intimate Memoir of Jim Morrison, by Judy Huddleston / Chicago Review Press / June 1, 2013 / 978-1613747506 / 240 pages The story begins just like many young girls' rock star fantasies do. Judy, a high-school senior, and soon-to-be … [Read more...]
Book Review – How Hip Was My Alley by Kenton Crowther
[Editor's note: 5/21/2014: How Hip Was My Alley has been re-titled Dad, the Times We Had: Baby Boomers in Paradise.] Kenton Crowther's previous volume, Alleycats and Beatsters, collected the author's writings built on the Beat Generation and the … [Read more...]
Book Review – The Jack Kerouac Upper Peninsula Diary by t. kilgore splake
The Jack Kerouac Upper Peninsula Diary / t. kilgore splake / Angst Publications / PO Box 508, Calumet, MI 49913-0508 / 1998 The author provided Empty Mirror with a review copy. “Happiness consists in realizing it is all a great strange dream”- Jack … [Read more...]
The Beat Generation vs. “Beatniks”
"Beatnik" is sometimes - incorrectly - used to describe to the Beat Generation writers and artists. We're going to straighten out the confusion for you! Here's an explanation of who the Beats were, and what the term "beatnik" is all about. What is the … [Read more...]
Book Review – Horse Latitudes by Chris Wilson
Horse Latitudes by Chris Wilson / Sorika / 978-0957557307 / 92 pages Horse Latitudes is a small gem of a book, bound in white covers illustrated with a painting. It is strikingly beautiful, with a very clean, minimalist design. But much of its … [Read more...]
Book Review – Son of Kerouac, Woodstock and God: A Memoir by James Crockett
Son of Kerouac, Woodstock and God / James Crockett / 978-148125581 / 261 pages Empty Mirror received a review copy of this book. As a young man about to embark upon a summer-long hitchhiking trip through the western United States in the mid-1970s, … [Read more...]
Review – Reaching Out with No Hands: Reconsidering Yoko Ono by Lisa Carver
Reaching Out with No Hands: Reconsidering Yoko Ono / Lisa Carver / Backbeat Books / 2012 / 978-1617130946 The popular perceptions of Yoko Ono are often unflattering: hanger-on, untalented, unattractive, shrill, remote. Lisa Carver, herself an artist … [Read more...]
Review – An Invisible Flower by Yoko Ono
An Invisible Flower by Yoko Ono / Chronicle Books / 52 pages / 978-1452109114 An Invisible Flower was written and illustrated by nineteeen-year-old Yoko Ono, years before she met John Lennon, or became a public figure. It is the tale of a girl who … [Read more...]
Celebrating Allen Ginsberg’s birthday with a few videos
In honor of Allen Ginsberg's birthday (June 3, 1926), we've gathered a few videos together. We've got some poetry for you, a chant, and an interview or two. What are your favorite Ginsberg recordings? Please leave a comment below! Allen Ginsberg … [Read more...]
Review – Alleycats and Beatsters: The Hip, the Gone, and the Way Gone
Alleycats and Beatsters, a collection of essays by British writer Kenton Crowther, explores what it means to be Beat, the nature of hipness, and the poets, writers and hipsters who orbited the Beats, either closely or from a distance. This isn't a … [Read more...]
Richie Havens at the Festival of the River: Photos
[Note: I took these photos in 2009, and present them here again in memory of Richie Havens, who passed away on April 22, 2013 at the age of 72. Rest in peace, Richie.] Richie Havens played the Festival of the River & Pow-Wow, sponsored by the … [Read more...]
Book Review – Jimi Hendrix FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Voodoo Child
Jimi Hendrix FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Voodoo Child / Gary J. Jucha Backbeat Books / 978-1617130953 / 363 pages I've been a listener of Jimi Hendrix's music for several decades. However, anything beyond the bare basics of his life and … [Read more...]
The one thing an author should never, ever do.
I'm a reviewer. I hang out on message boards frequented by other reviewers. One popular topic on these message boards is that of authors who comment on reviews of their books. Almost all reviewers agree that authors shouldn't ever do it, and when it … [Read more...]
Music Review – Son Volt’s new Honky Tonk delivers a fresh take on old-school country
There's continuity between Son Volt's last album, American Central Dust, and Honky Tonk: both are inspired by music which is purely American, which has grown out of the heartland & even the American collective mythology. But Honky Tonk delves deeper into … [Read more...]
Review – Anywhere Road: Retracing Jack Kerouac, by Joerg Haeske
"What's your road, man?—holyboy road, madman road, rainbow road, guppy road, any road. It's an anywhere road for anybody anyhow." - Jack Kerouac, On the Road For the last several years, on his website www.RetracingJackKerouac.com, Joerg Haeske … [Read more...]
Review – Free Beer: Kicks and Truth with Jack Kerouac by Cliff Anderson
Free Beer: Kicks & Truth with Jack Kerouac, and other strong drinks is a collection of twelve stories by Cliff Anderson. Also included is Kerouac scholar Rod Anstee's 1990 interview with Anderson, titled "Dare to be Kind." In the tale that gives this … [Read more...]
Book Review – Beatitude: A Novel by Larry Closs
Beatitude by Larry Closs / Rebel Satori Press / 2011 / 978-1608640294 / 272 pages Empty Mirror received a copy of Beatitude from the author, with no obligation. ] Larry Closs' debut novel focuses on Harry Charity, who is gay, and his relationship … [Read more...]
Music Review — Sentimental Journey by Emmy Rossum – A Musical Calendar
Emmy Rossum is a multi-talented performer. As an actress, she currently stars in Showtime's Shameless, and the forthcoming film, Beautiful Creatures. Her new CD, Sentimental Journey, is her second. Its twelve songs, each an American classic, correspond at … [Read more...]
