In March 1957 a San Francisco customs agent seized a number of copies of the City Lights paperback Howl and Other Poems "on the grounds that the writing obscene." Both the clerk who sold the book, Shigeyoshi Murao, and the publisher, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, were arrested. Ginsberg was out of the country when the censorship trial over "Howl" took place, and according to I Celebrate Myself, Bill Morgan's new biography of the poet, remained slightly detached from the controversy that made the book such a hit. The year 2006 was the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ginsberg's "Howl," the work that changed the face of poetry, made the poet famous, and led to the establishment of City Lights as one of the country's most important publishing houses. Recently several books have been published which illuminate the life and work of Allen Ginsberg, the best-known poet of the 20th century. The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg Edited by Bill Morgan and Juanita Lieberman-PlimptonĮdited by Bill Morgan and Nancy J.
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