Michael McClure Scratching the Beat Surface 1982 North Point

Description

Michael McClure stands as one of the central figures of the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movement, closely associated with Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and the Six Gallery reading that helped launch the Beats into public consciousness. Scratching the Beat Surface blends essay, poetics, and literary criticism, with McClure reflecting on his contemporaries while developing his own “bio-alchemical” approach to poetry—where the body, nature, and language intersect.

Published by North Point Press, this early edition captures McClure in a reflective mode, engaging directly with figures like Olson, Creeley, Snyder, and Kerouac. Copies in this condition are growing scarce, especially as interest in Beat-era primary figures and their circles continues to grow.

A sharp copy.