On Booze

A fitting collaboration for two fixtures of San Francisco’s Beat scene, On Booze is a collection of poems on individual spirits and cocktails accompanied by line drawings of faces. This limited first edition volume from 1975 is signed by the artist, Knute Stiles (1923-2009); a Black Mountain College painter, art critic, and bartender at legendary Beat Generation hangout and performance space "The Place." Composer Jack Goodwin (1920-1991) best known for his satirical Beat opera The Pizza Pusher, “has illustrated these drawings with his poems.” Printed on multicolored pages, these whimsical, tongue-in-cheek ‘drink pairings’ aptly reflect the contemporary atmosphere of poetry, art, song, and substances.