The story of how poet Allen Ginsberg's seminal work broke down societal barriers in the face of an infamous public obscenity trial. In his famously confessional style, Ginsberg - poet, counter-culture icon, and chronicler of the Beat Generation - recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to HOWL, the most timeless work of his career. HOWL interweaves three stories: the unfolding of the landmark 1957 obscenity trial; an imaginative animated ride through the prophetic masterpiece; and a unique portrait of a man who found new ways to express himself, and in doing so, changed his own life and galvanized a generation.