the.com/beatnik
a poet who dropped out, grew a goatee, and blamed capitalism for your bad coffee.
means a member of the 1950s countercultural movement that rejected mainstream American values through poetry, jazz, drugs, and deliberate nonconformity.
from coined by san francisco columnist herb caen in 1958, mashing beat generation with sputnik to mock the movement as vaguely communist and spacey; the writers themselves hated the label.
caen's insultmeant to sound un-american, foreign, suspicious
kerouac's termhe preferred beat, meaning beatific, not beatnik
birthplacesan francisco's north beach, not new york
lifespancultural label lasted barely a decade before hippies replaced it
for instance
jack kerouac — on the road, 1957, wrote it in three weeks on a scroll
allen ginsberg — read howl at six gallery, 1955, obscenity trial followed
city lights bookstore — lawrence ferlinghetti's shop, san francisco, still open since 1953
maynard g krebs — tv's goateed beatnik on dobie gillis, 1959, cemented the stereotype