Recommendations based on Kaddish and Other Poemsby Allen Ginsberg

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Junky

    by William S. Burroughs
    A gritty, autobiographical account of a man's descent into the underworld of addiction.

    Before his 1959 breakthrough, Naked Lunch , an unknown William S. Burroughs wrote Junky , his first novel. It is a candid eye-witness account of times and places that are now long gone, an ... (Goodreads)

  2. Naked Lunch

    by William S. Burroughs
    Surrealist exploration of addiction, delusions, and reality.

    Naked Lunch is a non-linear narrative without a clear plot. The following is a summary of some of the events in the book that could be considered the most relevant. The book begins with the ... (Wikipedia)

  3. Leaves of Grass

    by Walt Whitman
    An exploration of the relationship between the individual and the divine, viewed through the lens of nature and its rhythms.

    A collection of quintessentially American poems, the seminal work of one of the most influential writers of the nineteenth century. ... (Goodreads)

  4. Lunch Poems

    by Frank O'Hara
    A collection of poems written during the author's lunch breaks in New York City, capturing the essence of urban life.

    Important poems by the late New York poet published in The New American Poetry, Evergreen Review, Floating Bear and stranger places. Often O'Hara, strolling through the noisy splintered glare of a ... (Goodreads)

  5. Songs of Innocence and of Experience

    by William Blake
    A poetic collection exploring the duality of human nature, innocence and experience.

    Songs of Innocence and of Experience, is an collection of poems by William Blake., Note:, For a complete Table of Contents of the included poems, see the 'Questions' section below. This book appeared ... (Goodreads)

  6. 100 Selected Poems

    by E.E. Cummings
    An exploration of life, love, and the beauty of nature through the lens of poetry.

    E.E. Cummings is without question one of the major poets of this century, and this volume, first published in 1959, is indispensable for every lover of modern lyrical verse. It contains one hundred ... (Barnes & Noble)

  7. Big Sur

    by Jack Kerouac
    A semi-autobiographical novel about Kerouac's time in Big Sur, California, struggling with alcoholism and the pressures of fame.

    "Each book by Jack Kerouac is unique, a telepathic diamond. With prose set in the middle of his mind, he reveals consciousness itself in all its syntactic elaboration, detailing the luminous ... (Goodreads)

  8. Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    A collection of four works exploring the human psyche, morality, and existentialism through the lens of Russian society.

    The story opens with the narrator wandering the streets of St. Petersburg . He is contemplating the ridiculousness of his own life, and his recent realization that nothing matters to him any more. It ... (Wikipedia)

  9. The Complete Poems

    by William Blake
    A collection of poems that explore the spiritual, supernatural, and philosophical realms.

    One of the great English Romantic poets, William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist, poet, mystic and visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innocence and their ... (Goodreads)

  10. On the Road

    by Jack Kerouac
    A young man's journey across America, seeking adventure and freedom.

    The two main characters of the book are the narrator, Sal Paradise, and his friend Dean Moriarty, much admired for his carefree attitude and sense of adventure, a free-spirited maverick eager to ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

    by Ernest Hemingway
    Collection of short stories depicting the human experience in all its complexities.

    THE ONLY COMPLETE COLLECTION BY THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR In this definitive collection of Ernest Hemingway's short stories, readers will delight in the author's most beloved classics such as ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Complete Poems

    by Anne Sexton
    A collection of powerful, confessional pieces exploring the beauty, tragedy, and pain of human experience.

    From the joy and anguish of her own experience, Sexton fashioned poems that told truths about the inner lives of men and women. This book comprises Sexton's ten volumes of verse, including the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  13. Steppenwolf

    by Hermann Hesse
    The inner struggles of a tortured soul as he searches for redemption.

    The book is presented as a manuscript written by its protagonist , a middle-aged man named Harry Haller, who leaves it to a chance acquaintance, the nephew of his landlady. The acquaintance adds a ... (Wikipedia)

  14. The Dharma Bums

    by Jack Kerouac
    A journey of self-discovery, fueled by a passion for Buddhism and nature.

    The character Japhy drives Ray Smith's story, whose penchant for simplicity and Zen Buddhism influenced Kerouac on the eve of the sudden and unpredicted success of, On the Road, . The action shifts ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The Rum Diary

    by Hunter S. Thompson
    A man's journey to find himself and meaningful work, set in a tropical paradise.

    Begun in 1959 by a twenty-two-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary is a tangled love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Raven and Other Poems

    by Edgar Allan Poe
    A collection of dark, gothic poems, exploring the depths of the human psyche.

    A chilling, thrilling collection of Edgar Allan Poe's poetry, introduced by best-selling author Philip Pullman The Raven . . . Annabel Lee . . . Ulalume . . . these are some of the spookiest, most ... (Goodreads)

  17. 100 Love Sonnets

    by Pablo Neruda
    Collection of love poems exploring the depths of passion, desire and longing.

    Against the backdrop of Isla Negra - the sea and wind, the white sand with its scattering of delicate wild flowers, the hot sun and salty smells of the Pacific - the poet sets the poems in ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Complete Stories and Poems

    by Edgar Allan Poe
    A collection of dark and mysterious stories and poems, exploring the depths of the human condition.

    This single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary ... (Barnes & Noble)

  19. A Coney Island of the Mind

    by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
    A collection of poems exploring human experience and the beauty of nature.

    The title of this book is taken from Henry Miller's "Into the Night Life" and expresses the way Lawrence Ferlinghetti felt about these poems when he wrote them during a short period in the 1950's—as ... (Goodreads)

  20. Women

    by Charles Bukowski
    A collection of stories exploring the lives of various women and their relationships with men.

    Women focuses on the many dissatisfactions Chinaski faced with each new woman he encountered. One of the women featured in the book is a character named Lydia Vance; she is based on Bukowski's ... (Wikipedia)

  21. The Collected Poems

    by Langston Hughes
    A compilation of works reflecting the African-American experience through a poetic lens.

    Spanning five decades and comprising 868 poems (nearly 300 of which have never before appeared in book form), this magnificent volume is the definitive sampling of a writer who has been called the ... (Goodreads)

  22. Ghost World

    by Daniel Clowes
    Two teenage girls navigate the awkward transition to adulthood, grappling with identity, relationships, and the mundanity of suburban life.

    Ghost World has become a cultural and generational touchstone, and continues to enthrall and inspire readers over a decade after its original release as a graphic novel. Originally serialized in the ... (Goodreads)

  23. Love Is a Dog from Hell

    by Charles Bukowski
    A poetic exploration of the human experience, from joy to heartache and everything in between.

    Collection of poems rising from and returning to Bukowski's personal experiences reflect people, objects, places, and events of the external world, and reflects on them, on their way out and back. ... (Goodreads)

  24. Faust, First Part

    by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    A timeless story of a man's struggle between the forces of good and evil.

    Goethe’s masterpiece and perhaps the greatest work in German literature, Faust has made the legendary German alchemist one of the central myths of the Western world. Here indeed is a monumental ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Road Not Taken and Other Poems

    by Robert Frost
    Collection of poems exploring the power of choice, the passage of time, and the beauty of nature.

    "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." These deceptively simple lines from the title poem of this collection suggest Robert ... (Goodreads)

  26. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

    by Tennessee Williams
    A family struggling to confront hidden resentments and repressions that lurk beneath the surface.

    Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the story of a Southern family in crisis, especially the husband Brick and wife Margaret (usually called Maggie or "Maggie the Cat"), and their interaction with Brick's ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories

    by Tim Burton
    Collection of darkly humorous, twisted tales of peculiar and fantastical characters.

    From breathtaking stop-action animation to bittersweet modern fairy tales, filmmaker Tim Burton has become known for his unique visual brilliance – witty and macabre at once. Now he gives birth to a ... (Goodreads)

  28. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair

    by Pablo Neruda
    Collection of poems exploring love, heartache, and the complexities of relationships.

    When it appeared in 1924, this work launched into the international spotlight a young and unknown poet whose writings would ignite a generation. W. S. Merwin's incomparable translation faces the ... (Goodreads)

  29. Inferno

    by Dante Alighieri
    An epic journey through the nine circles of Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil.

    Of the great poets, Dante is one of the most elusive and therefore one of the most difficult to adequately render into English verse. In the Inferno, Dante not only judges sin but strives to ... (Goodreads)