Happy Valentine's Day

While I'm not a big fan of the "holiday," I do love somewhat creepy vintage cards!

The Beat of Boiling: A review of "And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks"

(Mini article written for my college newspaper, I figured it could double here)

Living today in the fervor of young adult ideals, the Beat generation needs no introduction. When a manuscript written in 1948 by two of the movement’s most prevalent authors was published for the first time this past November, the literary flame surrounding the movement was reignited. Beat aficionados know the tale that sparked this vaguely disguised roman á clef- David Kammerer is tragically murdered by his obsession, the privileged Lucien Carr. Carr first confessed to Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, both involving them in the scandal that ensued and inspiring their collaborative effort here. The manuscript, named after a news tale of fire at a zoo, was dusted off after the death of Lucien Carr, who asked for the novel not to be published in his lifetime.

With alternating chapters as Mike Ryko and Will Dennison, respectively, Kerouac and Burroughs give readers a raw, uninhibited look into their lives in post-World War II bohemia. Readers expecting another On the Road or Naked Lunch will be disappointed- the signature styles that characterize the classics are highly underdeveloped. These being the years that shaped the counterculture icons we know and love, And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks is important in a historical context, but nothing beyond that.

I really wish I led an interesting life.

Instead, I drag my feet through blah classes and doodly daydream about better days that include writing all day in my slippers with the scent of half-knit scarves and ginseng tea interwoven with the Montmarte air. (because naturally, that's where I'll be)


sigh...