image. What is more remarkable than the manic lives they led is that they succeeded-remaking their own generation and inspiring the ones that followed. From the breakthrough success of Kerouac's On the Road to the controversy of Ginsberg's Howl and Burroughs' Naked Lunch, the counterculture was about to go mainstream for the first time, and America would never be the same again. Based on more than eight years' writing and research, Ronald Collins and David Skover-authors of the highly acclaimed The Trials of Lenny Bruce (2002, 2012)-bring the stories of these artists, hipsters, hustlers, and maniacs to life in a dramatic, fast-paced, and often darkly comic narrative.