And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

Oct 9, 2024 9:22 AM

Author:Jack Kerouac,William S. Burroughs

In alternating chapters that reveal a nascent period in their development as two of the twentieth century's most influential writers, Beat Generation icons William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac's And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks is an electrifying true-life mystery, including afterword by James Grauerholtz in Penguin Modern Classics.

This is a hardboiled crime novel, and a true story. In 1944, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, then still unknown writers, were both arrested following a murder: one of their friends had stabbed another and then come to them for advice - neither had told the police. Later they wrote this fictionalised account of that summer - of a group of friends in wartime New York, moving through each other's apartments, drinking, necking, talking and taking drugs and haphazardly drifting towards a bloody crime. Unpublished for years, And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks is a remarkable insight into the lives and literary development of two great writers.

If you enjoyed And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks, you might like Kerouac's On the Road, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'The novel that kicked it all off'

Independent

'An insight into Kerouac before he went on the road and Burroughs before his drug use spiralled out of control, this is a major literary event'

Reviews

One of the most frightening books I've ever read... Hayder's gory insights into the dark side are compelling

—— GUARDIAN

Chilling... the book is surprisingly hard to put down. The plot develops with satisfying unpredictability; the characters are compellingly drawn... its final twist a bravura savagery

—— DAILY TELEGRAPH

Bleak, powerful... The Treatment is cleverly plotted and Caffery is a believable creation

—— OBSERVER

Mo Hayder's debut, Birdman, was deservedly an unqualified success... and Hayder has lost none of her descriptive expertise along the way

—— TIME OUT

There is no better example of a contemporary masterpiece than Mo Hayder's The Treatment. Whether she's exploring social issues such as homelessness and child abuse or just scaring the bejeezus out of you, Hayder spins a tale that feels like a razor slicing apart your soul. The plotting is extremely disciplined, the sort of structure to which all authors should aspire, and the story is a searing dark tale that makes you bolt up in bed during the middle of the night, wondering if that sound you heard was the cat, or Death dragging its sickle across the floor

—— Karin Slaughter , SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

RULES OF DECEPTION is an ingenious thriller set credibly in the shadowy world of international espionage. This one has it all: well-drawn characters, wonderful writing, exotic settings, and a high-tech terrorist plot that will keep you breathlessly racing along right through its electrifying climax.

—— Nelson DeMille

There's a reason why Christopher Reich is a superstar writer. You'll find it on page one of this book. And page two. And page three ... and all the way to the vivid end of this great new thriller.

—— Lee Child

RULES OF DECEPTION is an intense, impossible-to-put down spy novel-like Robert Ludlum at his very best.

—— Vince Flynn

He's the equal of such masters of suspense as Ken Follett and Frederick Forsyth. This first-class adrenaline fest will leave readers guessing until the last page.

—— Publishers Weekly

A good old-fashioned thriller

—— Independent on Sunday

Essentially a stunning exploration of the darkest parts of the human psyche, one which will haunt the reader

—— Socialist Review

There is no doubt that Crime is a page-turner

—— New Statesman

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