Overview
During the late 1960s, when peace, drugs, and free love were direct challenges to conventional society, Allen Ginsberg, treasurer of the Committee on Poetry, Inc., funded what he hoped was “a haven for comrades in distress” in rural upstate New York. First described as an uninspiring, dilapidated four–bedroom house with acres of untended land, including the graves of its first residents, East Hill Farm became home to those who sought pastoral enlightenment in the presence of Ginsberg’s brilliance and generosity.
A self–declared member of a “ragtag group of urban castoffs,” including Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Herbert Huncke, and the mythic Barbara Rubin, Gordon Ball tended to a non–stop flurry of guests, chores, and emotional outbursts while also making time to sit quietly with Ginsberg and discuss poetry, Kerouac, sex, and America’s war in Vietnam. Here, in honest and vivid prose, he offers a rare intimate glimpse of the poetic pillar of the Beat Generation.
“Only a masterful storyteller like Gordon Ball could turn a depressing tale of poets at rock bottom into a triumph of the human spirit . . . Ball has painstakingly traced his days as the ‘farm manager’ who tried to plant the crops, do the chores, and keep on an even keel while the rest of the tribe were literally bouncing off the walls. It led him to tremendous joy, sadness, ecstasy, and a black eye. This is a personal book that examines the period that changed America—for better or worse? You decide.” —Bill Morgan, author of I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg
This book title, East Hill Farm (Seasons with Allen Ginsberg), ISBN: 9781619020177, by Gordon Ball, published by Catapult (December 25, 2012) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
Unlike Amazon and other retailers who may also offer East Hill Farm (Seasons with Allen Ginsberg) books on their website, we specialize in large quantities and provide personal service, from trusted, experienced, friendly people in Portland, Oregon. We offer a Price Match Guarantee, and QuickQuote form, to make purchasing quick and easy.
Prefer to work with a human being when you order East Hill Farm (Seasons with Allen Ginsberg) books in bulk? Our Book Specialists are standing by Monday-Friday 8-5 PST, ready to help!