Seeing the Beat Generation

"[This] book presents a warmly argued and impassioned rationale for advancing the teaching of Beat film in the literature classroom...Raj Chandarlapaty provides a method for Generation Z to benefit from this long metamorphosis, that their incendiary visions will persist, and that alone is reason to appreciate this remarkable book.”—The Mailer Review
"This book extends Beat generation criticism by considering film adaptations of the lives and works of authors such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and 'lesser-known' Beats like Amiri Baraka and Carolyn Cassady. ... Chandarlapaty also considers pedagogy, claiming that studying film makes Beat writing 'more accurate and active' for students and scholars. ...examines how films such as Beat Angel (2004), Big Sur (2013), and Gang of Souls (1989) can foster a more robust understanding of the Beats’ 'counterhistories' of American ethos and experiences in a postmodern context."—American Literature
“Raj Chandarlapaty’s Seeing the Beat Generation is an innovative foray into how documentaries and films can alter and enhance our perceptions of literary works by the Beat writers. Delving into an immense body of visual works focused on the Beat movement, Chandarlapaty critiques the increasing power of film to dominate our understanding of literature in our increasingly visual culture.”—Kurt Hemmer, Harper College, editor, Encyclopedia of Beat Literature.