I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg Book

As Ginsberg's bibliographer and archivist for almost 20 years, Bill Morgan became quite close to him. His familiarity with his subject makes it fitting he should write the life, or a life. I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg is the story he tells. The use of the word is deliberate. Fred Anderson, in a recent review, wrote of distinguishing history as studies or stories. I suppose it could apply to biography as well. This is the story of Ginsberg's life rather than a study of the man or his work. And as such it's more of a public life than a private one. Morgan tells us little that we didn't already know; though the title hints at surprises, there are few here. The book is a catalogue of trips, places visited, people seen and known. It's what Ginsberg did. However, Morgan gives us scant insight into why he did what he did and why he wrote what he wrote. It's all neatly done, too. Each chapter covers a year of Ginsberg's life. Want to know what Allen was doing when you started college or when your first child was born? It's easy to align your activities with his. One interesting facet of the biography is that in the margins Morgan has included references to the poetry which was inspired by the biographical events. Not surprisingly, I found Ginsberg's poetic reflections on what he was experiencing much more interesting than Morgan's descriptions. I realize it's a labor of love, just as Ginsberg lived his life. Morgan says in his "Forward" that Ginsberg's story is a love story which began with a love of himself. He learned it from Whitman, who accepted himself and lived in acceptance of everyone else. Love, I think, always makes a good story.