Who or What: Allen Ginsberg meets Philip Glass

Bookstore: St. Mark's Bookshop

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Image Source: Illustration by Peter Arkle for Kachka, Boris. “Reasons to Love New York #28: Because St. Mark’s Bookshop Lives.” NYMag.com. 11 Dec. 2011. Web. http://nymag.com/news/articles/reasonstoloveny/2011/st-marks-bookstore/

Video: Hydrogen Jukebox Playlist created by Robert Orozco. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD2E47BF0908C7137

Additional Information: "In 1988, I accepted an invitation from Tom Bird of the Viet Nam Veteran Theater to perform at a benefit for the company. I happened to run into Allen Ginsberg at St. Mark's bookshop in New York and asked him if he would perform with me. We were in the poetry section, and he grabbed a book from the shelf and pointed out Wichita Vortex Sutra. The poem, written in 1966 and reflecting the anti-war mood of the times, seemed highly appropriate for the occasion. I composed a piano piece to accompany Allen's reading, which took place at the Schubert Theater on Broadway.

Allen and I so thoroughly enjoyed the collaboration that we soon began talking about expanding our performance into an evening-length music-theater work. It was right after the 1988 presidential election, and neither Bush nor Dukakis seemed to talk about anything that was going on. I remember saying to Allen, if these guys aren't going to talk about the issues then we should." — Philip Glass on how meeting Allen Ginsberg in St. Mark's Jukebox led to their collaboration on Hydrogen Jukebox, featuring Glass' music and Ginsberg's poetry

Source: Philip Glass' Notes on Hydrogen Jukebox. http://www.philipglass.com/music/recordings/hydrogen_jukebox.php.