Allen Ginsberg used to joke that poetry was "the family business." These letters between the late author of "Howl" and his poet-father, Louis, are more than a series of poignant exchanges between conservative father and Beat son. They comprise a 30-year conversation between conflicting ideas of the role of poetic tradition in making sense of the difficult world. Allen calls for a "full-scale revolution" in poetry, while Louis - a philosophically minded punster who wrote in rhymed couplets - coyly observes that Allen's comrades seem to think they have "invented honesty."

As the landmark events of the 20th Century unfold around them (the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War, and explosive confrontations in the Middle East), they strive to find a common ground in their craft. The elder Ginsberg's tolerance is tested by his son's rebellion. Louis instructs Allen to "exorcise" his muse Neal Cassady as a destructive influence, and he's outraged when his son's longtime companion, Peter Orlovsky, is listed as Allen's "spouse" in Who's Who. Along the way, Allen's fame as the bearded paterfamilias of the flower-power generation grows, and he becomes the most trusted critic of his father's work. Louis comes to recognize that poems like his son's "Kaddish" - a shockingly frank portrayal of Allen's mother Naomi - pointed the way to the future of the art.

Poet Louis Untermeyer once remarked to Louis, "You are good for Allen, and he is good for you." Tracing their journey toward a shared conviction that poetry has the power to change history makes Family Business important reading for us all.

Louis Ginsberg is the father of the famed Beat poet, Allen Ginsberg. and their poetries couldn't be more different. Louis is a lyric poet who wrote in rhyme and meter. there were some political poems in the collection, but not nearly as much as you find in allen's work. the poems aren't bad, they read like student poems, some successful, many not so much. There is an essay by allen starting the book. what should have been a highlight is a big dissapointment. allen spends little time talking about his father and more time trying to discuss the meter of the poems, and it becomes obvious that allen knows little about meter. there are a couple of good poems in the collection, but over all it isn't worth the effort of finding the book, unless you are a ginsberg scholar.