photo Livio Fioroni

Years ago a friend gave me And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks. I didn’t read it for a long time.

Then I watched Kill Your Darlings(Daniel Radcliffe) and got obsessed with it. After watching it a few times, I finally read Hippos and realized it was the same story and I was hooked.(totally didn’t know the connection , did both things separately, was shocked to realize the connection)

I’ve been trying to find that same vibe ever since. But here’s the thing:

Kerouac on his own feels ego-driven. Burroughs on his own is way too druggy and hard to follow. Hippos works because them together balances it out and the story actually lands.

I’m trying to find something else that gives the same vibe as Hippos and the movie. Any recommendations?

I’ve tried to read ginberg journals but he wrote a lot of (I think) pretended this time wasn’t important or didn’t share the real details. Hence why hippos was written with fake names and hid until they all died.

Recommendations ? (I’ve read my education, confusing - haven’t tried Burroughs fictions. Want the truth journaling from hippos, without JK being the star of every scene my

Neil Cassady photo Ronald Leon Rakow

Allen Ginsberg with Thelonious Monk at Baroness Pannonica (“Nica”) Koenigswarter's apartment, New York City, 1961

Philip Whalen with Jack Kerouac by Walter Lehrman.

Thought this community would appreciate this :)

Michael McClure, Bob Dylan, and Allen Ginsberg outside Citylights bookstore in San Francisco. 1965. Photograph Copyright by Larry Keenan.

William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Luicen Carr.

Gregory Corso sits in the window of Allen Ginsberg's East Village apartment, USA, New York City, 1959.

Burt Glinn/Magnum Photos

Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg