“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by Marxist madness”

In an amazing tale of a world gone mad, I see (via Sean Kinsell and Jeff at Beautiful Atrocities) that San Francisco’s City Lights bookstore has banned author Oriana Fallaci.
Reason? She’s a “fascist“:

although my friend is no fan of Ward Churchill, the faux Indian and discredited professor who notoriously called 9/11 victims “little Eichmanns,” he didn’t really mind seeing piles of Churchill’s books prominently displayed on a table as he walked in.
However, it did occur to him that perhaps the long-delayed English translation of Oriana Fallaci’s new book, “The Force of Reason,” might finally be available, and that because Fallaci’s militant stance against Islamic militants offends so many people, a store committed to selling banned books would be the perfect place to buy it. So he asked a clerk if the new Fallaci book was in yet.
“No,” snapped the clerk. “We don’t carry books by fascists.”

City Lights Books is, of course, famous largely because of its association with the bohemian writers known as “Beatniks” (a term coined by San Francisco columnist Herb Caen). Preeminent among the Beats was Jack Kerouac, author of “On the Road.” A rugged individualist all his life, he resented the Culture War when it was still in its infancy:

Despite the ‘beatnik’ stereotype, Kerouac was a political conservative, especially when under the influence of his Catholic mother. As the beatniks of the 1950’s began to yield their spotlight to the hippies of the 1960’s, Jack took pleasure in standing against everything the hippies stood for. He supported the Vietnam War and became friendly with William F. Buckley.

Gee, that sounds at least as fascistic as Oriana Fallaci.
I wonder what’s going on.
I hope fascism isn’t being redefined as opposition to identity politics. Or believing in individual freedom.
Hmmm….
Not coincidentally, City Lights Bookstore is located on a street proudly renamed “Jack Kerouac Alley” in his honor:

kerouacalley2.jpg

At the risk of engaging in counterculture revisionismism, I must ask: was it a good idea for San Francisco to rename a street in honor of a fascist?


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5 responses to ““I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by Marxist madness””

  1. beautifulatrocities Avatar

    Kerouac would break these little bitches in half. Here in Oakland, we have Walden Pond books (near moonbat-central’s Grand Lake Theater) where you can stock up on Revolutionary Worker & other recycles from the trash bin of history.
    Which reminds me, if it ever stops raining, I need to snap a pic of the latest ravings on the Grand Lake’s marquee…

  2. pikkumatti Avatar
    pikkumatti

    Next they’ll be calling people “Cultural Fascists”.

  3. Patrick Avatar
    Patrick

    Interesting about Kerouac. But then, I guess it’s about par for the course. The City also put a poem by the virulently homophobic Kenneth Rexroth on a bus shelter in the Castro.

  4. Darleen Avatar

    From Cathy’s article:
    Strangest of all is the scenario of such a person disliking an author for defending Western civilization against radical Islam ? when one of the first things those poor, persecuted Islamists would do, if they ever (Allah forbid) came to power in the United States, is crush suspected homosexuals like him beneath walls.
    I read the novel Prayers for the Assassin (set in 2042 Islamic Republic of America) last week and author Robert Ferrigno describes San Francisco as a radical enclave at odds even with the more moderate Islamic Republic, where they have decorated the crumbling GoldenGate bridge with the skulls of executed gays.
    My youngest is in her freshman year at SFSU — she loves it, she’s level headed and she entertains me with tidbits of the more whacky goings-on on campus and the city.

  5. Raging Bee Avatar

    To be fair, I’ve heard conflicting accounts about Fallaci; some say she’s gone off the deep end since 9/11, and is now demonizing Islam and Muslims in general, not just Islamofascists. If that’s true, then the leftie bookstore would be right — probably for the first time since Vietnam.