The Beat Generation

It began as a group of young writers, artists and musicians that sought to escape the confines of middle class America along with its values.

The Beat Generation saw its roots begin in the early 50's when a small group of friends started with the Bohemian lifestyle and then took it one step farther. This group wrote poetry and stories in reaction to the capitalistic America that they saw emerging following World War Two.

The word 'Beat' may have came from 'exhausted' or 'to beat up', or beatitudes (some thought these men were prophets).  This group used their writings, music and art as an escape from middle America and were characterized by their use of drugs, their sexual freedom and the wandering nomadic lifestyle.  However, this unlikely group of people changed the very style of writing as it had always been seen before and ushered in a whole new way of expressing themselves and viewing the world. That is why they are so important to the literary world as we know it today.

Allen Ginesburg started this grass roots group of friends while at U.C. Berkley in California where he started writing and reading poetry and met some of the rest of his friends that would become the beatniks. From there, they continued on to spread to NYC after school and then on through out the country.

Soon notables (who were friends with Ginesburg) such as William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac also joined in  In 1956, just after the Russians had launched the "Sputnik, a newspaper man from San Francisco coined the term 'beatnik' and in 1958, the term 'beat generation' was invented by an article that appeared in "Playboy". 

The beat generation helped define the unhappiness that youth felt while growing up during the later half of the 50's and on into the 60's.

With this age of unhappiness came a whole new lingo which was invented by these beats. Phrases such as "cat" (a hip person) or "daddy-o" (which was used to address anyone) or 'cranked' (excited) or 'lay on' (to give).

This group started off small and grew into the disillusioned youth of the 1960's which encompassed the world, but most defiantly here in North America.