SOURCE: Bawer, Bruce. “The Phenomenon of Allen Ginsberg.” In Prophets & Professors: Essays on the Lives and Works of Modern Poets, pp. 193-214. Brownsville: Story Line Press, 1995.

In the following essay, Bawer explores the reasons for Ginsberg's renown and considerable reputation.

I'm so lucky to be nutty. 

—Allen Ginsberg, “Bop Lyrics” (1949)

The very first poem in Allen Ginsberg's Collected Poems 1947-1980¹ seems, in a way, to prophesy Ginsberg's entire career. It is titled “In Society,” and it dates from 1947, when the poet was twenty-one years old. The poem records a dream: Ginsberg is at a high-society cocktail party, is more or less ignored, and is told by a woman, “I don't like you.” He screams at her:

                                         … “What!” in outrage. “Why you shit-faced fool!” This got everybody's attention. “Why you narcissistic bitch! How can you decide when you don't even know me,” I continued in a violent and messianic...