Howl

Howl is a poem by Allen Ginsberg that was first performed in 1955 in the Six Gallery in San Francisco. It is noted for relating stories and experiences of his friends and contemporaries, its tumbling hallucinatory style, and the subsequent obscenity trial which it provoked. It is dedicated to Ginsberg's friend Carl Solomon, whom he met in a mental institution.

Other interpretations of Howl

Yowl

Writing in the magazine The New Republic in 1986, Christopher Buckley and Paul Slansky published a 1980s re-interpretation of "Howl", entitled "Yowl". The poem was published to commemorate the 30th anniversary of "Howl"'s publication, and was a parody, both of the Ginsberg original and of the Yuppie lifestyle which their version portrayed.

Related Topics:
The New Republic - 1986 - Christopher Buckley - Paul Slansky - Yuppie

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Howl.com

In 2000, at the height of the dot com boom, Thomas Scoville wrote a parody of Howl, called Howl.com, that was widely circulated via email and the web. It focused on internet technology, the new media business world and the emerging social structures that had accompanied the internet's rising popularity, such as open source development and technology celebrities.

Related Topics:
2000 - Dot com boom - New media - Open source

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Penny Rimbaud's How?

In January 2003 Penny Rimbaud, founder of the anarchist band Crass, performed Ginsberg's "Howl" as part of the first Crass Agenda event at the Vortex Jazz Club in London's Stoke Newington. After the gig Oliver Weindling, of the jazz label Babel Records suggested making a recording of the performance. However, Rimbaud was unable to obtain permission from Ginsberg's estate to use the work, and instead rewrote it, updating it as a critique of post September 11, 2001 American culture. Of this work Rimbaud states; "In "How?" I have attempted to confront the innate madness of the 'New World Order': It is, I believe, a madness that even Ginsberg could not have forseen in his wildest Nightmares". Whilst retaining much of the structure and spirit of the original work, "How?" includes some significant changes, including the substitution of 'Mammon' for 'moloch', and the word 'wholly' instead of 'holy' in the poem's celebratory 'footnote'. A recording of Rimbaud's "How?", performed live and unrehearsed with a jazz ensemble at the Vortex Club, was released in 2004.

Related Topics:
2003 - Penny Rimbaud - Anarchist - Crass - Crass Agenda - Vortex Jazz Club - London - Stoke Newington - Oliver Weindling - Babel Records - September 11, 2001 - Mammon - 2004

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