Writing about writing.

Man, the permission’s people must have never thought they’d get all this finished… the list of authors included in The Outlaw Bible of American Literature edited by Alan Kaufman, Neil Ortenberg, and Barney Rosset is formidable and long. Very long. This collection is “a primer for generational revolt and an enduring document of visionary tradition of authenticty and nonconformity in American literature. A raucous cauldron of rebellion and Otherness. A ledger of the streets. A vein to be mined. A catalog of woe and a serenity prayer.” Is it ever.

Here are just some of the names that jump out at me from the list of contributors:
Barry Gifford, Jim Carroll, Lester Bangs, Patti Smith, Chuck Palahniuk, Henry Miller, Iceberg Slim, David Wojnarowicz, Hubert Selby Jr., Kathy Acker, Norman Mailer, Willim S. Burroughs, John O’Brien, Jack Kerouac, Sam Shepard, Dee Dee Ramone, DMX, Bob Dylan, Snoop Dogg, Miles Davis, James Brown, Lou Reed, Legs McNeil, Gil Scott-Heron, Greil Marcus, Andrea Dworkin, Ralph “Sonny” Barger, Chuck Zito, Tom Wolfe, Chester Himes, Melvin Van Peebles, F.X. Toole, Woody Guthrie, Michelle Tea, Dave Eggers, John Waters, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Poppy Z. Brite, Jim Thompson, Mickey Spillane, John Fante, Andrew Vachss, Pinckney Benedict, Harry Crews, Waylon Jennings, John Sayles, Ken Kesey, Dennis Cooper, Terry Southern, Timothy Leary, Malcom X, Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, Hunter S. Thompson.

Yep, they’re all in there. And more. These pieces are all excerpted from other work, and many of them are quite short. But it’s still an impressive rogue’s gallery of literature. And at 662 pages and only $24.95, the price can’t be beat. Buy The Outlaw Bible of American Literature here.