Rare Book of the Day – The Beard, Michael McClure, Signed First Edition.
The Beard, Michael McClure. Signed First Edition.
Michael McClure, born in 1932, is an American poet, novelist, playwright and songwriter. He's considered a primary member of the Beat Generation and, after moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955. This was rendered in barely fictionalized terms in Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, and Kerouac also immortalized him as "Pat McLear" in Big Sur.
His most famous work is probably his 1955 play The Beard, a notably controversial take on seduction and attraction. It portrays an explosive confrontation between Jean Harlow and Billy the Kid. After the fifth public performance of the play, the San Francisco Police Department, which was previously unsuccessful in censoring Allen Ginsberg and Lenny Bruce, arrested the lead actors and charged them with obscenity. The ACLU took on the case and the charges were overturned. The play has since gone on to win numerous awards and is still routinely performed. This is the first printing, signed by McClure:
Signature:
McClure with Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg:
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