BOOK | FICTION | LITERARY
AND THE HIPPOS WERE BOILED IN THEIR TANKS
BY JACK KEROUAC AND WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS
FORMAT: AUDIOBOOK
RATING: ★ ★ ★
In the summer of 1944, a shocking murder rocked the fledgling Beats. William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, both still unknown, we inspired by the crime to collaborate on a novel, a hard-boiled tale of bohemian New York during World War II, full of drugs and art, obsession and brutality, with scenes and characters drawn from their own lives. Finally published after more than sixty years, this is a captivating read, and incomparable literary artifact, and a window into the lives and art of two of the twentieth century’s most influential writers.
Book description, grammar errors and all, as found at Amazon
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The book’s import lies not in its storytelling or technique — and that’s a good thing because both pretty much stink — but in the fact that it gets us into the minds and shows us the early stylistic tendencies of Kerouac and Burroughs, two primary OGs of the Beat Generation of course, a decade or so prior to their their breakout novels of ON THE ROAD [about] and NAKED LUNCH [about], respectively.
To this humble reader, that’s pretty cool and of enough import to bump its literary stock up a point to three stars instead of two.
FEATURED IMAGE COURTESY OF NY TIMES REVIEW BY MICHIKO KAKUTANI
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