[Above: Allen Ginsberg performing during his 1966 “Wichita Vortex Sutra” journey.]

For the second month in a row I have literary criticism appearing in The Believer — and my new essay, “The Last Antiwar Poem,” moves beyond travel themes to discuss the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. As the American literary community prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Howl and Other Poems, my essay points out how … Read more »

How One Egyptian’s Bad Haircut from a Greeley, Colorado Barber in 1949 Provided Ideological Fuel for 9/11

Discussed: Sayyid Qutb’s experience in Greeley, Colorado, bad haircuts, the anthropology and sociology of tourist behavior, the weirdly colonialist assumptions of post-colonialist scholars, the idea that Arabs can be just as touristically dorky as their American counterparts, the debauchery of Truman-era church sock-hops, Arabic travel writing, Occidentalism, Orientalism, the notion that Americans … Read more »