Review by Booklist Review
You wouldn't think that a book made up of barely planned conversation by not just its principals but anybody else who commented at all relevantly and within mic range would be anything other than a trial to read. And maybe you have to be interested in or knowledgeable about the main participants the two longest-lived stars of the Beat Generation to really dig it. But if you are, you very probably will, and the Beats' audience regenerates and continues to expand now that only major occasional collaborators Gary Snyder and Lawrence Ferlinghetti remain, so . . . Anyhow, the occasion for these interchanges was the release of David Cronenburg's filming of Burroughs' Naked Lunch, and the movie is one of their prominent topics. Others include Burroughs' work with a Native American shaman (a party to the discussion) to rid him of an evil spirit, the other Beats and their fellow travelers in high society, Burroughs' psychotherapists, and writers Burroughs admires (he quotes from memory lines by Sara Teasdale!). For Beat aficionados, the book will resemble a light, pungent dessert.--Ray Olson Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Poet and musician Taylor (False Prophet) shares a fascinating and heretofore unpublished transcription of two famous beat authors in conversation. On the occasion of the 1992 U.K. premiere of David Cronenberg's film adaptation of Naked Lunch, Allen Ginsberg spent several days with the novel's inimitable author, William S. Burroughs, for a write-up in the London Observer Magazine. Their talk took place at Burroughs's Lawrence, Kans., home and coincided with an exorcism conducted by Navajo shaman Melvin Betsellie to rid Burroughs of a lifelong demonic presence the writer called the Ugly Spirit. In addition to a detailed run-down of the exorcism, there's banter about health, diet, and Burroughs's many beloved cats; serious discussion of his literary influences and cut-up method of composition; and gossip about their eclectic social circles in London, Mexico City, and Tangier. The result is a relaxed, wide-ranging confab, by turns erudite and charmingly down-to-earth, and with plentiful contributions from others, including Betsellie and especially longtime Burroughs associate and bibliographer James Grauerholz. Lightly but helpfully annotated and peppered with Ginsberg's own snapshots of Burroughs in repose, this must-have resource for beat aficionados will stimulate more casual readers as well with its sense of being in the same room, and thoroughly in tune, with two legendary literary iconoclasts. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Prompted by a request from London's Observer Magazine to interview writer William S. Burroughs (1914-97) in connection with the release of David Cronenberg's film Naked Lunch, poet Allen Ginsberg (1926-97) visited with him in Lawrence, KS, recording 16 hours of conversation between March 17-22, 1992. Taylor (False Prophet), Ginsberg's longtime musical accompanist, agreed to transcribe the tapes as the basis for the magazine article. The complete transcripts with notes are published for the first time in this volume, which takes its title from Ginsberg's poem "On Burroughs' Work." Topics discussed include literary history and influences, demonic possession and exorcism, drug and gun laws, psychiatry, and, of course, Cronenberg's film. Burroughs returns several times to the "Ugly Spirit," an entity he believed possessed him and prompted his accidental shooting of wife Joan. There's also much on personal subjects such as illness, diet, and Burroughs's many cats. Includes a generous selection of Ginsberg's photos taken during the visit. VERDICT Devotees of these Beat Generation icons will find these -conversations between longtime friends both entertaining and revealing.-William Gargan, emeritus, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
