Rosenthal, Irving, 1912–2008.

Born in 1930, American editor and author Irving Rosenthal is counted among the Beats, a group of young writers in the 50s and 60s known for their bohemian lifestyles and rebellion against the then popular art forms. Though he published only one major novel, Sheeper , and has not been remembered as a major Beat writer, American novelist and poet Gilbert Sorrentino in a 1994 interview with Alexander Laurence cited Rosenthal as one of the most compelling of the Beats.

Before writing Sheeper, Rosenthal edited the Chicago Review. He was responsible for publishing the first chapters ever offered of William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, which he edited with Allen Ginsberg. When the Chicago Review issue containing those chapters was censored, Rosenthal left the Chicago Review and founded Big Table . He stayed long enough to publish the censored issue; he then left Big Table to Paul Carroll’s control and moved to Morocco in 1963.

In Morocco, Rosenthal became involved with a Moroccan named Mohammed ben Abdullah Yussufi, who was later killed by Moroccan police. Deeply affected by the loss of his friend, Rosenthal began writing Sheeper . He hoped that his novel would reveal the true cause of Mohammed’s death and serve as a memorial to him. Rosenthal remained in Morocco for at least a year, during which time he pored over the manuscript for the novel and maintained steady correspondence with American editor, poet, and filmmaker Ira Cohen. At first under Cohen’s direction, parts of the novel began to be published in small magazines in the United States and abroad. The entire novel was published by Grove Press in 1967.

From Morocco, Rosenthal went to Athens before returning to New York in 1964.

Biographical information is derived from the collection.

From the guide to the The Irving Rosenthal papers, 1963–1967, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)