From Bughouse Square to the Beat Generation: Selected Ravings of Slim Brundage

Cultural Writing. In 1960, Dorothy Kilgallen wrote, If you wish to see the so-called `beat generation' in action, drop in at the College of Complexes. A unique combination of tavern, university, and non-stop party, the College was for many years Chicago's premier outsider outpost. The writings collected here by the College's Founder and Janitor, Slim Brundage (1903-1990), chronicle the colorful history of what may well be the oldest continuous dissident workingclass intellectual community in the U.S. Hobo, Wobbly, Soapboxer, housepainter, humorist, and chief architect of the scandalous Beatnik Party during the 1960 elections, Brundage was very much a maker of the history he writes about. Slim ran a lively place-livelier than most. He's an ingenious sort of guy... good at talking and getting people to talk-Jack Conroy. Franklin Rosemont's introduction discusses the college's roots and outlines the Janitor's radical (and Dadaist) critique of traditional education.