And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

By: Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs

Narrated by: Ray Porter

More than 60 years ago, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, two novice writers at the dawn of their careers, sat down to write a novel about the summer of 1944, when one of their friends killed another in a moment of brutal and tragic bloodshed. Alternating chapters, they pieced together a hard-boiled tale of bohemian New York during World War II, full of drugs and obsession, art and violence.

The manuscript, named after a line from a news story about a fire at a circus, was rejected by publishers and confined to a filing cabinet for decades. Now, for the first time, this legendary collaboration between two of the 20th century's most influential writers is being released. Both a fascinating piece of American literary history and an engrossing, atmospheric novel, it brings to life a shocking murder at the dawn of the Beat Generation.

Walk the Beat with Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs.©2008 the Estate of Jack Kerouac and the William S. Burroughs Trust (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Can't be Beat

An incredible narration by what can easily be identified as a quintessential piece of early work by Kerouac and Burroughs.

underrated!

If you could sum up And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks in three words, what would they be?

historical, shocking, honest

What did you like best about this story?

The movement between chapters made it impossible to stop listening.

What does Ray Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I felt like I was listening to the authors telling their story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES!

Any additional comments?

Dare I say this may be my favorite Kerouac?

Better To Read, Not Listen

Let me start off by saying the narration in this is fantastic. Porter does a great job throwing his voice to a multitude of different characters. However, I found the story’s structure hard to follow as an auditory piece. I was driving while listening so maybe it’s better off not being heard while multitasking. Either way, I felt as though I would have enjoyed this story better had I read it and not listened or read then listened.

Pre-Beat Lit, instant classic!

I was skeptic... lost book? Burroughs and Kerouac? Does the phrase "too good to be true" come to mind. Yet, to my delight, this could turn out to be one of my favorite pieces of midcentury counter-culture lit. Jack and William take turns with chapters, allowing a really neat multi-perspective view of the controversial plot. Ray does a great job reading, as usual. The epilogue is a great treat, the true story behind the novel.

Mostly harmless.

Don't these narrators realize they are PERFORMANCE ARTISTS? But at least with Burroughs you can rely on the depravity being way over the top. Just the way we like it.

Not a great story.

Put into the context of a biography written many years before the characters/authors of the Beat Generation, this story is interesting.

As a stand alone piece, the story is not very good.

My First Beat Generation Book

Intricate in its mundane nature, it was hard to feel when the plot was going to “happen.” But I love this as an introduction to the Beat Generation and look forward to reading more.

Unexpected Gem

I had no idea this one existed. The telling of a true story were the names have been changed.

Period piece: murder among beat writers pre-fame.

Not quite a murder mystery and not quite a beat era Slice of Life narrative but something in between. It's definitely a period piece about a group of writers and artists living in New York City at the end of World War II. It's a period piece Noir style narrative about a murder and it's also a story about a group of friends who know that something bad is bound to happen eventually between two of the people in their social circle. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys gritty slice of life stories, Noir stories, and anyone who may want to learn more about what life was like for the beat era writers before they found fame.

Based on actual events, this almost Noir fictionalized story has a kind of excitable madness holding the narrative together that is directly juxtaposed to the Darkness of the story. The subject matter is dark but the narrative is written in a rambling kind of exuberance that's characteristic of a lot of beat era literature to come.

Kerouac and Burroughs wrote this novel together by alternating chapters and they pursued publication a full decade before they would find Fame as literary Giants and leaders of the beat era. I really enjoyed that the first person perspective switched back and forth between the Burroughs character and the Kerouac character. There's definitely a slight stylistic change between the Kerouac chapters and the Burroughs chapters and Ray Porter does an excellent job as narrator changing his voice slightly to fit the unique tone of each author in their respective chapters.

I found the afterword of this novel to be very informative about beat history and appreciated the biographical info about the beat writers who directly influenced the story. This book has a long and complicated history leading to this publication so many decades after the events that inspired the story.

The only reason I gave the story 4 stars instead of 5 is because the ending feels so unfinished somehow. It's a great book because of all of the great writing that came after and you get a glimpse of how a terrible thing like a random murder in one's own circle of friends could greatly alter a would-be writer and their trajectory in life. I don't know if the story and the ending would feel as strong if this was the only book that either of them ever published. It's a tough story but worth it for anyone who wants to know about some of the history around the key writers of the beat era before they wrote their signature pieces.

Hidden drama with a bit of history

Based on a true story!! Reveal at the end. I recommend speed of 1.3-1.5 so it less stuffy.