Likewise, the bomb hanging over our heads in the '50s and '60s is no more nor less threatening than the economic or environmental catastrophes that frighten us now. The Beats have much to answer for. Never has so much intimacy been made so public to so many, and it has everything to do with the casual, loopy romanticism of Kerouac's massive oeuvre, and Ginsberg's brave celebration of the body, his body. Yet as Kerouac biographer Gerald Nicosia observed, Kerouac's penchant for spontaneity, a spontaneity simultaneously betrayed by translation into language, is exactly what made his work anethema to so many scholars for so many years, but today lies behind the increasing desire among the scholarly community to attain access to Kerouac manuscripts. All you have to do is take out a few paragraphs.
Censorship inhabits other modes, too.
Jan Kerouac, sporting a devilish red dress and movie-star shades, looked like she'd be more comfortable making a scene than talking about one. We would have been excess baggage on the road. Hettie Jones, however, just went for it. Strong women need strong men, or at least noisy ones. If you were into musically accompanied poetics, McClure and former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek were your men.