John Clellon Holmes
John Clellon Holmes (
March 12th,
1926 -
March 2nd,
1988) is best known for his 1952 book
Go, which depicted events in his life with friends including
Jack Kerouac,
Neal Cassady, and
Allen Ginsberg and is considered the first "Beat" novel. Holmes came to the conclusion that the values and ambitions of the
Beat Generation were symbolic of something bigger, which was the inspiration for
Go. He was often referred to as the "quiet Beat," and was one of Kerouac's closest friends. He also wrote what is considered the definitive jazz novel of the Beat Generation, "The Horn."
The origin of the term "beat" being applied to a generation was conceived by Jack Kerouac who told Holmes "You know, this is really a beat generation." The term beat later became part of common parlance when Clellon Holmes published an article in
The New York Times Magazine entitled "This is the Beat Generation" on Novermber 16, 1952 (pg.10). In the article Holmes attributes the term to Jack Kerouac. Kerouac in turn had gotten the idea from
Herbert Huncke.
Later in life, Holmes taught at the University of Arkansas and lectured at
Yale and gave workshops at
Brown University.
* Go (1952)
* The Horn (1958)
* Get Home Free (1964)
* Nothing More to Declare (1967)
* The Bowling Green Poems (1977)
* Death Drag: Selected Poems 1948-1979 (1979)
* Visitor: Jack Kerouac in Old Saybrook (1981)
* Gone in October: Last Reflections on Jack Kerouac (1985)
* Displaced Person: The Travel Essays (1987)
* Representative Men: The Biographical Essays (1988)
* Passionate Opinions: The Cultural Essays (1988)
* Dire Coasts: Poems (1988)
* Night Music: Selected Poems (1989)
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John Clellon Holmes - Gallery of book covers*
John Clellon Holmes - Recordings*
John Clellon Holmes - Papers at Kent University
