Herbert Edwin Huncke, who introduced the word "Beat" to his associates, has become a legend in his own time. Friend to Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, John Clellon Holmes, and Allen Ginsberg, Huncke showed by his life-style that there were viable alternatives to middle-class existence. In terms borrowed from Rimbaud, Huncke's perceptions had been heightened by "a violent derangement of the senses" that stemmed from his use of drugs and from his living on the edge of conventional society. Considered by many to be a victim of society--Huncke was forced to steal to support his illegal drug habit and was often imprisoned--he perceived hypocrisy and lack of feeling in many of the "straight" citizens around him. It might be said that Huncke's sensitivity made him retreat into drugs in order to cope with a reality he found too harsh. Ginsberg and Kerouac were quick to sense that Huncke's...