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Three Rooms Press (2018), 364 pagina's
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LibraryThing member elenchus
Transcribed conversations from Ginsberg's 1992 visit to Burroughs' home in Lawrence, and interesting not only for snippets on WSB's thinking, but also for background to specific events and works. Primarily featuring AG and WSB but including several others on and off over the four days, these
These are selections, however: in effect the method was semi-random or stochastic, insofar as the transcripts capture only those conversations recorded by AG. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't appear AG followed a formal plan when recording. More than once the recording starts mid-sentence, as though AG just then thought to turn on the recorder, and when the tape runs out a new tape isn't always started. This emphasizes the haphazard character of the excerpts (dipping into and out of conversations underway), and the integrity of the conversations so captured. These were not staged or rehearsed marketing copy.
As a fan of WSB, I found Don't Hide the Madness a rewarding read but, as others have observed, wouldn't suggest this as a place to begin reading either WSB or AG.
About that title. WSB evidently credits Kerouac with the suggestion for naming his book Naked Lunch (published 1959 in France and 1962 in the US), while Kerouac admits the idea stemmed from AG's mis-reading "naked lust" from WSB's manuscript "Queer" as he read aloud to Kerouac in 1953. Only Kerouac caught the error; perhaps Kerouac simply mis-heard it. WSB subsequently used Naked Lunch as a working title for a trilogy of manuscripts thereafter, until giving it to the manuscript he had been calling Interzone. At the 1965 Massachusetts obscenity trial for Naked Lunch, AG concluded his testimony with a poem, "On Burroughs' Work", which included the lines:
A naked lunch is natural to us,
we eat reality sandwiches.
But allegories are so much lettuce.
Don't hide the madness.
That poem was written 1954 in San Jose. Not only was AG familiar with WSB's work and preoccupations, it's clear AG shares some of them. Decades later, in a 1989 interview with Michael Schumacher, AG emphasized the importance of self-expression using a similar formulation ("Follow your inner moonlight, don't hide the madness"). A transcript of that interview was included in Bill Strickland's anthology "On Being A Writer", while the "new" first half of that phrase, follow your inner moonlight, became a meme associated with AG. Fittingly, then, Don't Hide The Madness as a title links to the work and creative outlook of both WSB and AG.
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conversations are wide-ranging and not strictly focused on literature. Collectively they lend insight into how WSB lived his life, and they feel of a piece with his writings -- WSB was not making up a world he didn't mentally live in. These are selections, however: in effect the method was semi-random or stochastic, insofar as the transcripts capture only those conversations recorded by AG. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't appear AG followed a formal plan when recording. More than once the recording starts mid-sentence, as though AG just then thought to turn on the recorder, and when the tape runs out a new tape isn't always started. This emphasizes the haphazard character of the excerpts (dipping into and out of conversations underway), and the integrity of the conversations so captured. These were not staged or rehearsed marketing copy.
As a fan of WSB, I found Don't Hide the Madness a rewarding read but, as others have observed, wouldn't suggest this as a place to begin reading either WSB or AG.
About that title. WSB evidently credits Kerouac with the suggestion for naming his book Naked Lunch (published 1959 in France and 1962 in the US), while Kerouac admits the idea stemmed from AG's mis-reading "naked lust" from WSB's manuscript "Queer" as he read aloud to Kerouac in 1953. Only Kerouac caught the error; perhaps Kerouac simply mis-heard it. WSB subsequently used Naked Lunch as a working title for a trilogy of manuscripts thereafter, until giving it to the manuscript he had been calling Interzone. At the 1965 Massachusetts obscenity trial for Naked Lunch, AG concluded his testimony with a poem, "On Burroughs' Work", which included the lines:
A naked lunch is natural to us,
we eat reality sandwiches.
But allegories are so much lettuce.
Don't hide the madness.
That poem was written 1954 in San Jose. Not only was AG familiar with WSB's work and preoccupations, it's clear AG shares some of them. Decades later, in a 1989 interview with Michael Schumacher, AG emphasized the importance of self-expression using a similar formulation ("Follow your inner moonlight, don't hide the madness"). A transcript of that interview was included in Bill Strickland's anthology "On Being A Writer", while the "new" first half of that phrase, follow your inner moonlight, became a meme associated with AG. Fittingly, then, Don't Hide The Madness as a title links to the work and creative outlook of both WSB and AG.
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LibraryThing member noblechicken
This is the unpublished transcript between William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg around the peak time of the early 1990s, when both were having a somewhat resurgence in popularity. Recorded over a period of days, it really provides a whole canvas of talks between these two giants of the beat
There are just all of these flowing, winding conversations that go on and on, and while that may seem mundane for some, I found it quite involved, as if I were in the room with them, imagining their voices echoing through the rooms as they sometimes wandered in and out while preparing supper, for example. Some pretty charming moments between them as they call each other darling and dear as well, you can just feel their presence at times.
The format for this is great, like a play, easy to read and approach, and the footnotes are definitely helpful. It would be interesting if they did release an audio version of this, with their actual voices, but I have the feeling the quality may be not up to audio book snuff.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and a fantastic cover by R. Crumb would be great on a tee shirt!
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generation. There is informality, like the banality of cooking chicken in a pot, to the spiritual (The premise of some of the meetings was that WSB was having a shaman exorcise a demon he had in him since he shot his wife, Joan, during the infamous "William Tell routine".), to the downright fascinating gossip and heyday remembrances of times past (Kerouac, Burroughs and others pulling down Ginsberg's pants at a party and he "got a hard on" at the excitement of it all.) There are just all of these flowing, winding conversations that go on and on, and while that may seem mundane for some, I found it quite involved, as if I were in the room with them, imagining their voices echoing through the rooms as they sometimes wandered in and out while preparing supper, for example. Some pretty charming moments between them as they call each other darling and dear as well, you can just feel their presence at times.
The format for this is great, like a play, easy to read and approach, and the footnotes are definitely helpful. It would be interesting if they did release an audio version of this, with their actual voices, but I have the feeling the quality may be not up to audio book snuff.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and a fantastic cover by R. Crumb would be great on a tee shirt!
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LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
I like the title of this book, but it's not really transparent to the volume's content. More lucid choices might have been The Exorcism of William S. Burroughs, or Old Beatniks with Guns, or most accurately Reminiscing and Cat Fancying with Bill and Al. It's a carefully edited full transcript of
Burroughs was pleased by Cronenberg's Naked Lunch, so that forms a focus for some of the discussion. During the course of Ginsberg's visit, the two of them and some friends go to a local screening of the movie. Another principal activity is a brief trip to fire a few of Burroughs' guns. But probably the most significant event during the visit was Burroughs undergoing an exorcism of the "Ugly Spirit" (so identified by Brion Gysin) that Burroughs believed had been responsible for making him shoot his wife to death in Mexico in 1951. The exorcism was performed by a Native American shaman named Melvin Betsellie. Discussion often returns to the health concerns of the two men. They review various mutual acquaintances and old experiences, and discuss a number of literary figures and social scenes. Occasionally one will read out loud from a book or an article, and Ginsberg and Burroughs both recite poems from memory. Burroughs very frequently breaks off to address himself affectionately to one of his six cats.
The lack of an index is disappointing in a book that is practically an orgy of name-dropping, and includes a fair amount of trivial conversational context. Some topical metadata to reference persons discussed are in Ginsberg's synopses of the tapes, used as chapter headers and reproduced in the table of contents. But if you want to find the four mentions of Harry Smith for instance, you'll just have to read right through. Likewise, a key to the abbreviations used for attributing speech would be very helpful. WSB and AG are obvious enough, but identifying the other speakers from their abbreviations may require careful reading of the editor's introduction and the synopses. I was reading an advance review copy (via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program), so either or both of these failings of the editorial apparatus might be addressed in the actual first edition.
The cover art by R. Crumb is a lovely portrait of the two men, and there are some black-and-white photos of Burroughs taken by Ginsberg on the weekend of the conversation, along with some other photos of the men that are not credited.
I enjoyed this read, and it renewed my interest in reading some of Burroughs' later novels. It's definitely a book for someone who can bring to it an existing appreciation for Burroughs, at least. The reader also needs an ability to savor the conversational minutiae of old men, or failing that, some talent for skimming.
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about sixteen hours of conversation between William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, at Burroughs' place in Kansas over the course of four days in March 1992. The Naked Lunch movie release in England and Japan was the impetus for an "interview" that grew into the more relaxed-yet-ambitious project of capturing the conversations in this book, as sponsored by the London Observer magazine. Within the text, this circumstance isn't mentioned until two days and over one hundred transcript pages into the visit, and it only occupies the foreground of a single conversational session. The transcripts were prepared from the tapes and edited by musician Steven Taylor, who had been working as Ginsberg's assistant and a contributor to his performances. Burroughs was pleased by Cronenberg's Naked Lunch, so that forms a focus for some of the discussion. During the course of Ginsberg's visit, the two of them and some friends go to a local screening of the movie. Another principal activity is a brief trip to fire a few of Burroughs' guns. But probably the most significant event during the visit was Burroughs undergoing an exorcism of the "Ugly Spirit" (so identified by Brion Gysin) that Burroughs believed had been responsible for making him shoot his wife to death in Mexico in 1951. The exorcism was performed by a Native American shaman named Melvin Betsellie. Discussion often returns to the health concerns of the two men. They review various mutual acquaintances and old experiences, and discuss a number of literary figures and social scenes. Occasionally one will read out loud from a book or an article, and Ginsberg and Burroughs both recite poems from memory. Burroughs very frequently breaks off to address himself affectionately to one of his six cats.
The lack of an index is disappointing in a book that is practically an orgy of name-dropping, and includes a fair amount of trivial conversational context. Some topical metadata to reference persons discussed are in Ginsberg's synopses of the tapes, used as chapter headers and reproduced in the table of contents. But if you want to find the four mentions of Harry Smith for instance, you'll just have to read right through. Likewise, a key to the abbreviations used for attributing speech would be very helpful. WSB and AG are obvious enough, but identifying the other speakers from their abbreviations may require careful reading of the editor's introduction and the synopses. I was reading an advance review copy (via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program), so either or both of these failings of the editorial apparatus might be addressed in the actual first edition.
The cover art by R. Crumb is a lovely portrait of the two men, and there are some black-and-white photos of Burroughs taken by Ginsberg on the weekend of the conversation, along with some other photos of the men that are not credited.
I enjoyed this read, and it renewed my interest in reading some of Burroughs' later novels. It's definitely a book for someone who can bring to it an existing appreciation for Burroughs, at least. The reader also needs an ability to savor the conversational minutiae of old men, or failing that, some talent for skimming.
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LibraryThing member johnclaydon
Usually when a book of "conversation" is published it is a set piece, intended for publication. That is not what we have here. Ginsberg visited and recorded 16 hours of talk for the purpose of extracting a page or so for a British newspaper. This is a transcript of it all, almost the definition of
The introduction is very good.
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scraping the bottom of the barrel. Some readers will not get beyond the first few pages, devoted to talk about cooking leeks and potatoes. Some readers will be surprised and disappointed.The introduction is very good.
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LibraryThing member Capybara_99
This book delivers exactly what it advertises: transcripts of conversations between William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg and various others over the course of several days at Burroughs' home in Lawrence, Kansas. The visit took place in March, 1992 tied to the release of the Cronenberg film
It is a lot of fun. There's a lot of talk that no one in their right mind wouold be interested in, and a lot of other stuff that is interesting because it consists of far-out literary figures and cultural explorers talking about things like making soup, and other stuff that is interesting because it is about far out things like the exorcism that Burroughs has performed on him by a shaman the day before the taping starts. An exorcism that he is quite hopeful will remove the influence of the Ugly Spirit who has been residing in Burroughs for a long time. The Ugly Spirit may have first inhabited Burroughs when he experienced a primal scene in his youth (though he suspects it was even earlier.)
The two reminisce, go shooting, review old psychiatric reports, exchange thoughts about the movie and talk about how much to pay the shaman. I find Ginsberg's combination of sensibleness and extreme openness to other people's descriptions of the world to be endearing, and Burroughs' ability to summon and quote from a wide range of literary sources surprised me as well.
The book probably isn't for someone deciding if they would like these guys or their work. There is a fair amount of dross that rewards skimming. But it would be very useful for people studying either, as background and as source for lots of rich biographical tidbits. And for me -- someone who has not read deeply in the Beats but who enjoys the comedy of incongruity -- I liked it too.
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"Naked Lunch." Ginsberg was asked to conduct an interview for publication in a Japanese magazine. He decided the best way to do this was to visit, record 90 hours of tape, and have someone else transcribe the conversation and strip it down for publication. This book is the full unedited version of those tapes.It is a lot of fun. There's a lot of talk that no one in their right mind wouold be interested in, and a lot of other stuff that is interesting because it consists of far-out literary figures and cultural explorers talking about things like making soup, and other stuff that is interesting because it is about far out things like the exorcism that Burroughs has performed on him by a shaman the day before the taping starts. An exorcism that he is quite hopeful will remove the influence of the Ugly Spirit who has been residing in Burroughs for a long time. The Ugly Spirit may have first inhabited Burroughs when he experienced a primal scene in his youth (though he suspects it was even earlier.)
The two reminisce, go shooting, review old psychiatric reports, exchange thoughts about the movie and talk about how much to pay the shaman. I find Ginsberg's combination of sensibleness and extreme openness to other people's descriptions of the world to be endearing, and Burroughs' ability to summon and quote from a wide range of literary sources surprised me as well.
The book probably isn't for someone deciding if they would like these guys or their work. There is a fair amount of dross that rewards skimming. But it would be very useful for people studying either, as background and as source for lots of rich biographical tidbits. And for me -- someone who has not read deeply in the Beats but who enjoys the comedy of incongruity -- I liked it too.
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LibraryThing member kcshankd
This book is as nutty as you suspect it will be - it is a worthwhile read for the most devoted Ginsburg/Burroughs fans, while the rest of readers can safely ignore it.
Ginsburg travels to Lawrence to interview Burroughs towards the end of their lives in 1992. We get to eavesdrop on two old friends
The longer the conversation goes, the more comfortable I was listening in on it.
Ginsburg travels to Lawrence to interview Burroughs towards the end of their lives in 1992. We get to eavesdrop on two old friends
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as they discuss their various maladies, long-remembered moments, fellow travelers, new kicks and all the rest.The longer the conversation goes, the more comfortable I was listening in on it.
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LibraryThing member Oregonreader
I was very excited to get a copy of this book because Burroughs and especially Ginsberg were thought by many to define politics and poetry in the Beatnik age. I was disappointed . The editor needs to do a lot more editing. Because every word spoken over those three days is included, the reader gets
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long, rambling talks about inconsequential things such as Burrough's cats, what they like to eat, disagreements over who lived where in the past. But there are nuggets in there, like a long discussion of Burroughs shamanistic experiences and exchanges of spiritual ideas. There was also much discussion about turning Naked Lunch into a movie. There are very rewarding parts but the reader has to work too hard to find them. Show Less
LibraryThing member 5hrdrive
I suppose this would be interesting to a student of either Ginsberg or Burroughs, but I found it boring. The book is exactly what it purports to be, unedited transcripts of conversations between the two famous "beats". Not that they find anything enlightening to discuss, unfortunately. Sorry, not
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for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member jkonrath
Two old men talk about whether or not sodium is bad in your diet after a heart attack. Also contains some background on the beats that you've probably already seen before.
LibraryThing member Powderfinger69
I was looking forward to a deep conversation between two unique and important writers. In the end, the conversation was much more ordinary. I did enjoy being the fly on the wall but I found myself reading a cassette and then setting it aside for awhile.
Awards
Independent Publisher Book Awards (Bronze — 2019)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
332 p.
ISBN
1941110703 / 9781941110706