The Beat Killer

Book excerpt: Lucien Carr is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the same breath as the more famous poets and authors of the Beat Generation such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, or William Burroughs. The Beats were known for views and work that was considered very radical in the 1940s, 1950s, and into the 1960s. For some, this work was shocking, for others it was freeing and inspired a new generation of writers. It all began with Carr. His conversations with Ginsberg about the "New Vision" and his rejection of traditional morality drew the Beats together and set the course for literary history. However, Carr's shocking murder of David Kammerer in 1944 altered his own life's course and left him searching for anonymity rather than the spotlight that would shine on the Beat Generation.