1989 Letter from Allen Ginsberg to Elizabeth McQuern (including a recommended reading list)

by request, a transcription of a letter I received from Allen Ginsberg in 1989

hand-written on letterhead marked "Department of English, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York"

To Eliz Snyder
From Allen Ginsburg
6-14-89

Advice for any generation:

Read Shelley's "Ode to The West Wind"

Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience"

Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot"

Kerouac's "Mexico City Blues" and "On The Road"

Gregory Corso's "Happy Birthday of Death" (New Directions 1960)

also learn how to do sitting practice of meditation, Zen Buddhist or Tibetan style

See "Beginner's Mind, Zen Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki (Weatherhill)

"Meditation in Action" by Chogyam Trungpa (Shambhala Press)

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For those who are interested, here are links to each of the books he mentioned, which are all currently available on Amazon:

Shelley's "Ode to The West Wind" - www.amazon.com/Ode-West-Wind-Other-Poems/dp/0486275582/re...

Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience" - www.amazon.com/Blakes-Songs-Innocence-Experience-William/...

Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" - www.amazon.com/Idiot-Penguin-Classics-Fyodor-Dostoyevsky/...

Kerouac's "Mexico City Blues" and "On The Road" - www.amazon.com/Mexico-City-Blues-242-Choruses/dp/08021306... and www.amazon.com/Road-Penguin-Great-Books-Century/dp/014028...

Gregory Corso's "Happy Birthday of Death" (New Directions 1960) - www.amazon.com/Happy-Birthday-Death-Gregory-Corso/dp/B000...

See "Beginner's Mind, Zen Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki (Weatherhill) - www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Shambhala-Library/dp/15...

"Meditation in Action" by Chogyam Trungpa (Shambhala Press) - www.amazon.com/Meditation-Shambhala-Library-Chogyam-Trung...