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And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

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Beat generation roots in a true crime tale.

If you're drawn to the raw edges of the Beat Generation, you might find "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks" captivating. The collaboration between Burroughs and Kerouac serves as a time capsule that not only delves into a notorious crime but also encapsulates the early voice and cultural underpinnings of these iconic authors. This novel provides an unvarnished peek into their nascent literary world.

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And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

Regular price $8.68 $5.90 32% off
Unit price
per
ISBN: 9780802118769
Publisher: Grove Press
Date of Publication: 2008-01-01
Format: Hardcover
Goodreads rating: 3.72
(rated by 13788 readers)

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Description

On August 14, 1944, Lucien Carr, a friend of William S. Burroughs from St. Louis, stabbed a man named David Kammerer with a Boy Scout knife and threw his body in the Hudson River. For eight years, Kammerer had fawned over the younger Carr, but that night something happened: either Carr had had enough or he was forced to defend himself. The next day, his clothes stained with blood, Carr went to his friends Bill Burroughs and Jack Kerouac for help. Doing so, he involved them in the crime. A few months later, they were caught up in the crime in a different way. Something about the murder captivated the Beats, especially Kerouac and Burroughs, who decided to collaborate on a novel about the events of the previous summer. At the time, the two authors were still unknown, yet to write anything of note. Narrating alternating chapters, they pieced together a hard-boiled tale of bohemian New York during World War II, full of drugs and art, obsession and violence, with scenes and characters drawn from their own lives. They submitted their manuscript—called And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks after an absurd line from a radio bulletin about a circus fire—to publishers, but it was rejected and confined to a filing cabinet for decades. Finally published, at long last,
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Beat generation roots in a true crime tale.

If you're drawn to the raw edges of the Beat Generation, you might find "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks" captivating. The collaboration between Burroughs and Kerouac serves as a time capsule that not only delves into a notorious crime but also encapsulates the early voice and cultural underpinnings of these iconic authors. This novel provides an unvarnished peek into their nascent literary world.