The Beat Generation The Twentieth century has witnessed several movements which have helped to shape the rise of American culture. Each movement has in some way altered the way we think and act. One of the most influential literary movements of this century has been that of the Beat Generation. The Beat writers were a small group of close friends first, and a movement later. The Beat Generation in literature consist of a small number of writers, of which Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs are the best known today. All three men met at Columbia University in New York City in the mid-1940’s, a