Product Description

1995, and at a party in Bedford, Mary meets Jack and Neal, a pair of hipsters and self-confessed Beats' stuck (un)squarely in the sixties. After a Beat (not-quite) Happening' at the local library, the three of them (and Neal's cat Koko) set off in Mary's Vauxhall on a road trip to Brighton in search of literary fame and fortune. But, this is neither the time nor the place for free love, uncomplicated sex and unrestrained cool this is 1990s Britain and everything comes with a price

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #454500 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Synopsis
1995, and at a party in Bedford, Mary meets Jack and Neal, a pair of hipsters and self-confessed Beats' stuck (un)squarely in the sixties. After a Beat (not-quite) Happening' at the local library, the three of them (and Neal's cat Koko) set off in Mary's Vauxhall on a road trip to Brighton in search of literary fame and fortune. But, this is neither the time nor the place for free love, uncomplicated sex and unrestrained cool this is 1990s Britain and everything comes with a price

About the Author
Toby Litt is the author of Adventures in Capitalism, Beatniks, Corpsing, deadkidsongs, Exhibitionism and Finding Myself. He was named one of Granta's 20 Best of Young British Novelists, 2003.

Customer Reviews

angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient
I really enjoyed this book, it was unlike anything i'd ever read. It's told from main character Mary's point of view, as she meets a group of people who eat, breath, and bleed beat hipness. It's rather cultish I thought, but thats what made it disturbing, interesting, and "un-putdownable".

The concepts are interesting, and and writing is great. When Mary says she and her gang are the coolest bleedin' thing around, you believe every word. I found the unresolved issues really annoying though, like who Jack really was, and what happened to him in the end. When i realised the last paragraph didn't continue onto the next page, I almost screwed the last page up. It was infuriating, but I was impressed at the same time.
I spose that just illustrates Litt's talent further.
Good luck with this one, it makes you insatiable.

Superstar read
i read this book orginally at a fairly young age, discovered in my sister's room, i was 12 or 13 at the time. after a few years i re discoverd this super book and found it not to have changed one bit... the book reminded me of how this book captured my imagination when i was 12... though at 12 i didnt truely understand what i was reading. i think everyone should read this cleverly constructed book

a great idea wrecked by bad writing
Litt has taken a great topic and theme for a novel but has destroyed the magic of the Beat Generation. The characters are one dimensional, the narrative shakey, and the subplots idiotic. After a fanastic beginning describing the death of Dylan's 'folk' era the plot becomes tangled and shallow. So much so that in the final chapters the protagonists trip to America doesn't seem to ring true. I would advise readers to stick to Kerouac and Ginsberg and experience the wonder of the Beat Generation for themselves.