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Hard to Be a Saint in the City: The Spiritual Vision of the Beats
An exploration of Beat spirituality--seen through excerpts from the writings of the seminal writers of Beat Generation themselves.
It’s been said that Jack Kerouac made it cool to be a thinking person seeking a spiritual experience. And there is no doubt that the writers he knew and inspired—iconic figures like Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Gary Snyder, and Michael McClure—were thinkers seeking exactly that. In this re-claiming of their vision, Robert Inchausti explores the Beat canon to reveal that the movement was at heart a spiritual one. It goes deeper than the Buddhism with which many of the key figures became identified. It’s about their shared perception of an existence in which the Divine reveals itself in the ordinary. Theirs is a spirituality where real life triumphs over airy ideals and personal authenticity becomes both the content and the vehicle for a kind of refurbished American Transcendentalism.
It’s been said that Jack Kerouac made it cool to be a thinking person seeking a spiritual experience. And there is no doubt that the writers he knew and inspired—iconic figures like Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Gary Snyder, and Michael McClure—were thinkers seeking exactly that. In this re-claiming of their vision, Robert Inchausti explores the Beat canon to reveal that the movement was at heart a spiritual one. It goes deeper than the Buddhism with which many of the key figures became identified. It’s about their shared perception of an existence in which the Divine reveals itself in the ordinary. Theirs is a spirituality where real life triumphs over airy ideals and personal authenticity becomes both the content and the vehicle for a kind of refurbished American Transcendentalism.
208 pages, Paperback
Published January 30, 2018
11 people are currently reading
298 people want to read
About the author
Robert Inchausti
16 books17 followersBorn in Sacramento, California, Robert (Larry) Inchausti attended Sacramento State University and received his Ph.D. in English from The University of Chicago. Robert is the author of several books, the editor of two anthologies of Thomas Merton's writings, and another an of Beat Literature titled: "Hard to be a Saint in the City" was selected as one of the best books of 2017 by The Advocate. His first book "The Ignorant Perfection of Ordinary People" was nominated for a National Book Award by his publisher SUNY Press. And his book on classroom teaching, "Spitwad Sutras" is taught in teacher education programs across the USA. He is an Emeritus English Professor at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
"I am bourgeois to the core and plebeian beyond belief, and yet I am drawn to great writers and thinkers as my anti-type, my shadow, the voice of genius I never possessed. So I don't think of myself as a teacher or a writer so much as "an impersonator of profundities" inhabiting the wisdom of texts in the naked confidence that the value of the thoughts I express transcend the particular fraud that I am the one espousing them. It doesn't bother me when nobody seems to notice what I have to say because those anonymous, silent readers I know nothing about-- who value my books for their own personal reasons-- are enough to keep me going --- living on the wings of borrowed metaphors."
"I am bourgeois to the core and plebeian beyond belief, and yet I am drawn to great writers and thinkers as my anti-type, my shadow, the voice of genius I never possessed. So I don't think of myself as a teacher or a writer so much as "an impersonator of profundities" inhabiting the wisdom of texts in the naked confidence that the value of the thoughts I express transcend the particular fraud that I am the one espousing them. It doesn't bother me when nobody seems to notice what I have to say because those anonymous, silent readers I know nothing about-- who value my books for their own personal reasons-- are enough to keep me going --- living on the wings of borrowed metaphors."
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 16, 2018
Such a fantastic, fascinating book! It explores, through the words of Beat Generation icons and scholars, what "Beat" is, how Kerouac's no-holds-barred "Bop Spontaneous Prose" came to be, how Buddhism and jazz influenced not just the Beats' work but their way of life, and more. Reading the words of the various players, Kerouac's stood out by a mile - it reminded my why, to me, he will always be the G.O.A.T.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
March 27, 2019
A little bit like hanging around Vesuvio's, or some North Beach tavern, shooting the bull with the boys (mostly) about matters spiritual. The Beats were great synthesizers, interested in spiritual development, they were not interested in mainstream religion, except for latter day Kerouac. So, we get various takes on Buddhism, Animism, Hinduism transmuted through American sensibilities. Kerouac is alternately fascinating and exasperating; Ginsberg acts (and often is) the visionary; McClure is his usual opaque bio-spiritual self; Burroughs is dry and surprising, as usual; and Snyder is centered, and direct - again, as usual. Other members chime in, and all in all it's an interesting bull-session.
The book is divided into chapters setting up explorations of various aspects of the spiritual search.
I don't think you'll find too many exceptional insights, but the angles are clear, and the subject is interesting. Recommended for fellow travelers.
The book is divided into chapters setting up explorations of various aspects of the spiritual search.
I don't think you'll find too many exceptional insights, but the angles are clear, and the subject is interesting. Recommended for fellow travelers.
May 23, 2023
Bizarre omission of Whalen and Kyger!!
March 31, 2020
"All you do is head straight for the grave, a face just covers a skull for awhile. Stretch that skull-cover and smile." -JK
“I have lots of things to teach you now, in case we ever meet, concerning the message that was transmitted to me under a pine tree in North Carolina on a cold winter moonlit night. It said that Nothing Ever Happened, so don't worry. It's all like a dream. Everything is ecstasy, inside. We just don't know it because of our thinking-minds. But in our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever. Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world, and you will remember the lesson you forgot, which was taught in immense milky way soft cloud innumerable worlds long ago and not even at all. It is all one vast awakened thing. I call it the golden eternity. It is perfect. We were never really born, we will never really die. It has nothing to do with the imaginary idea of a personal self, other selves, many selves everywhere: Self is only an idea, a mortal idea. That which passes into everything is one thing. It's a dream already ended. There's nothing to be afraid of and nothing to be glad about." -JK
"The world you see is just a movie in your mind. Rocks don't see it. Bless and sit down. Forgive and forget. Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you are already in heaven now. That's the story. That's the message. Nobody understands it, nobody listens, they are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I will try to teach it but it will be in vain, s'why I'll end up in a shack praying and being cool and singing by my woodstove making pancakes." -JK
"I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion." -JK
"You were given the power to love in order to use it, no matter what pain it may cause you."
"Suffering is a chance you have to take by the fact of being alive."
“I have lots of things to teach you now, in case we ever meet, concerning the message that was transmitted to me under a pine tree in North Carolina on a cold winter moonlit night. It said that Nothing Ever Happened, so don't worry. It's all like a dream. Everything is ecstasy, inside. We just don't know it because of our thinking-minds. But in our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever. Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world, and you will remember the lesson you forgot, which was taught in immense milky way soft cloud innumerable worlds long ago and not even at all. It is all one vast awakened thing. I call it the golden eternity. It is perfect. We were never really born, we will never really die. It has nothing to do with the imaginary idea of a personal self, other selves, many selves everywhere: Self is only an idea, a mortal idea. That which passes into everything is one thing. It's a dream already ended. There's nothing to be afraid of and nothing to be glad about." -JK
"The world you see is just a movie in your mind. Rocks don't see it. Bless and sit down. Forgive and forget. Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you are already in heaven now. That's the story. That's the message. Nobody understands it, nobody listens, they are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I will try to teach it but it will be in vain, s'why I'll end up in a shack praying and being cool and singing by my woodstove making pancakes." -JK
"I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion." -JK
"You were given the power to love in order to use it, no matter what pain it may cause you."
"Suffering is a chance you have to take by the fact of being alive."
April 23, 2018
I received this book from a Goodreads' Giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
Using excerpts from the literature of the major movers and shakers of the Beat movement, Inchausti has convincingly revealed that the overarching quest for a spiritually congruent and adept way of living was a significant but largely underappreciated theme running through their work. There was far more going on with the Beats than the creation of new and radical forms of prose and poetry, the adoption of countercultural lifestyles and rebellion against the "Establishment's" strictures and norms.
Ginsburg, Kerouac, Snyder, Burroughs, et. al., were deeply affected by the shallow, artless, materialistic, industrial/military complex that began to dominate American culture in the wake of WWII. Diagnosing and eloquently revealing this through their work wasn't the problem (Ginsburg's "Howl" alone masterfully proves this); but how to survive it, change it and avoid getting caught up in it--or personally destroyed by it--was.
Their personal "pilgrimages" and journeys to seek answers took various forms, with arguable degrees of success: hitting the road to look for the "real" America, ditching mainstream restrictions for a no-holds barred Dionysian lifestyle, toying with acid and other mind-altering drugs, finding solace in Eastern religions, participating in marches and protests, to name a few.
Inchausti's thoughtful curation of the vast body of Beat prose, poetry and other literary forms nicely encapsulates the Beats' quest for a deeper, more spiritually sustaining way of life, their strivings to grasp the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful of the world, and their attempts to marshall the creational power of art to change it, and themselves, in the process.
Using excerpts from the literature of the major movers and shakers of the Beat movement, Inchausti has convincingly revealed that the overarching quest for a spiritually congruent and adept way of living was a significant but largely underappreciated theme running through their work. There was far more going on with the Beats than the creation of new and radical forms of prose and poetry, the adoption of countercultural lifestyles and rebellion against the "Establishment's" strictures and norms.
Ginsburg, Kerouac, Snyder, Burroughs, et. al., were deeply affected by the shallow, artless, materialistic, industrial/military complex that began to dominate American culture in the wake of WWII. Diagnosing and eloquently revealing this through their work wasn't the problem (Ginsburg's "Howl" alone masterfully proves this); but how to survive it, change it and avoid getting caught up in it--or personally destroyed by it--was.
Their personal "pilgrimages" and journeys to seek answers took various forms, with arguable degrees of success: hitting the road to look for the "real" America, ditching mainstream restrictions for a no-holds barred Dionysian lifestyle, toying with acid and other mind-altering drugs, finding solace in Eastern religions, participating in marches and protests, to name a few.
Inchausti's thoughtful curation of the vast body of Beat prose, poetry and other literary forms nicely encapsulates the Beats' quest for a deeper, more spiritually sustaining way of life, their strivings to grasp the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful of the world, and their attempts to marshall the creational power of art to change it, and themselves, in the process.
June 15, 2024
Hard to Be a Saint in the City: The Spiritual Vision of the Beats edited by Robert Inchausti is a fascinating study. I became interested in the Beat Generation as a teenager. The original hook was Maynard G. Krebs, the Beatnik from The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. To me, he was the essence of “cool.” That was followed by an interest in jazz, especially Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, and Miles Davis. Next came the reading, starting with Ginsberg’s Howl and Kerouac’s On the Road. Then it was on to Leroi Jones, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Norman Mailer, Gary Snyder, and others.
The volume begins with an interesting introductory essay. Inchausti has divided his scrutiny of “the Spirit of the Age” into twelve chapters, each focusing on a different category, including the spiritual vision of the Beats, their spiritual practices, their political insights and projections, their visions and perceptions about writing and the creative process, and their concepts of consciousness and the Divine. He has compiled excerpts from a wide range of writers, poets, musicians, activists, actors, professors, scholars, painters, environmentalists, and philosophers. Some of the topics, a few rather arcane, include “American Transcendentalism,” “Bop Spontaneous Prose,” “the New Consciousness,” “Systemlessness,” and “Paleolithic Altars.”
The book dispels some stereotypical assumptions and conceptions about the Beats and elucidates others. Some entries are rather dense, esoteric, mysterious, and somewhat difficult to follow.
The Beats carved out a fascinating niche in American culture. Check out their influence and impact.
The volume begins with an interesting introductory essay. Inchausti has divided his scrutiny of “the Spirit of the Age” into twelve chapters, each focusing on a different category, including the spiritual vision of the Beats, their spiritual practices, their political insights and projections, their visions and perceptions about writing and the creative process, and their concepts of consciousness and the Divine. He has compiled excerpts from a wide range of writers, poets, musicians, activists, actors, professors, scholars, painters, environmentalists, and philosophers. Some of the topics, a few rather arcane, include “American Transcendentalism,” “Bop Spontaneous Prose,” “the New Consciousness,” “Systemlessness,” and “Paleolithic Altars.”
The book dispels some stereotypical assumptions and conceptions about the Beats and elucidates others. Some entries are rather dense, esoteric, mysterious, and somewhat difficult to follow.
The Beats carved out a fascinating niche in American culture. Check out their influence and impact.
June 6, 2023
The Beat Generation in their own words. Inchausti has gathered a fascinating collection of quotations by Beat and Beat-affiliated writers in a volume that explores who the Beats were, what their writing was about, and what the movement really meant.
The interesting thing about this book compared to others is its emphasis on spirituality. That's something Kerouac always stressed. Inchausti writes in his introduction:
"To be beat is to live a spiritual (i.e. cultural) life in a civilization increasingly deaf to its own ideals - a civilization gaining in worldly power but losing its character and its soul."
It's an interesting interpretation and there is much in the pages that follow to corroborate his notion.
The interesting thing about this book compared to others is its emphasis on spirituality. That's something Kerouac always stressed. Inchausti writes in his introduction:
"To be beat is to live a spiritual (i.e. cultural) life in a civilization increasingly deaf to its own ideals - a civilization gaining in worldly power but losing its character and its soul."
It's an interesting interpretation and there is much in the pages that follow to corroborate his notion.
February 21, 2020
Hard to work out what I am rating here.
The author's capacity for selecting an arrray of dazzling beat-thought is pretty good I guess. Still find myself torn between full postive affirmation of the beatnik lyrical prose & a lingering suspicion that flowery language has been used to mask an absence of pratical spiritual advice. But I guess I should take that up with the beatniks themselves.
I enjoyed it either way.
The author's capacity for selecting an arrray of dazzling beat-thought is pretty good I guess. Still find myself torn between full postive affirmation of the beatnik lyrical prose & a lingering suspicion that flowery language has been used to mask an absence of pratical spiritual advice. But I guess I should take that up with the beatniks themselves.
I enjoyed it either way.
August 20, 2025
At face value, I went into this book assuming it would explore “the spiritual vision of the beats.” Instead, it’s a compilation of excerpts from different works from Beat writers that reference “the spiritual vision of the beats.”
That being said, if you’re looking to get into the Beat generation, and if you want an introduction to the writers and their message, this is a good text to pick up.
If you’re looking for a more in-depth work, it’s best to look elsewhere.
That being said, if you’re looking to get into the Beat generation, and if you want an introduction to the writers and their message, this is a good text to pick up.
If you’re looking for a more in-depth work, it’s best to look elsewhere.
September 6, 2018
Snapshots and overviews of the beats and their spiritual lives…how sexist they were, but geniuses besides that. I found the choppiness of the selections a bit jarring in the beginning, but got used to that.
June 28, 2018
(I actually finished this some time ago, but forgot to log it in.) Classic Beat wisdom. If you don't know anything about the Beats and are curious, this is a good place to start.
August 25, 2018
A source book, easy to dip in - pick a page. Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Burroughs, Ginsberg, Leonard Cohen even. Lovely.
April 4, 2019
It felt disjointed and lacking the spirit of my favorite beat writers.
January 17, 2020
Brilliant! I loved this book!
July 23, 2025
Michael McClure knows about my mammalian tendencies
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews