Literary Rogues (37 page)

142
There is no such thing as bad whiskey
: Blotner,
Faulkner: A Biography
, p. 357.

142
Never ask me why
: Dardis,
The Thirsty Muse
, p. 87.

142
his powerful and artistically unique
: Bernard S. Schlessinger and June H. Schlessinger,
The Who's Who of Nobel Prize Winners, 1901–1995
(Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1996), p. 73.

143
extremely mean and stupid horses
: Hunter S. Thompson,
Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
, ed. Jann Wenner (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011), p. 517.

143
The great ones die, die
: Paul L. Mariani,
Dream Song: The Life of John Berryman
(Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996), p. 379.

15: DEATHS AND ENTRANCES

145
Do not go gentle
: Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,”
The Poems of Dylan Thomas
, ed. Daniel Jones (New York: New Directions, 2003), p. 239.

145
I'll never forget being taken
:
New York in the Fifties
. Dir. Betsy Blankenbaker. First Run Features, 2001. DVD.

145
The first poems I knew
: Paul Ferris,
Dylan Thomas: The Biography
(Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press, 2000), p. 25.

146
difficult to differentiate
: Walford Davies, ed.,
Dylan Thomas: Early Prose Writings
(London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1971), p. 122.

146
He was determined to drink
: Cyril Connolly,
Previous Convictions
(London: H. Hamilton, 1963), p. 326.

148
You're nothing but a lot
: Ferris,
Dylan Thomas: The Biography
, p. 200.

149
Would he arrive only to break down
: Elizabeth Hardwick,
A View of My Own: Essays in Literature and Society
(New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1962), p. 104.

149
Nobody ever needed encouragement
: Andrew Lycett,
Dylan Thomas: A New Life
(New York: Overlook Press, 2004), p. 286.

149
To touch the titties
: Shelley Winters,
Shelley II: The Middle of My Century
(New York: Pocket Books, 1990), p. 24.

149
I do not believe it's necessary
: Ibid., p. 25.

149
rude, drunken behavior
: Ibid., p. 34.

149
When one burns one's bridges
: Dylan Thomas and Donald F. Taylor,
The Doctor and the Devils
(London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1955), p. 9; the actual quote in this script reads, “When one burns one's
boats
,” though it is widely misquoted as “bridges.”

150
They ought to know what he's really like in America
: John Malcom Brinnin,
Dylan Thomas in America: An Intimate Journal
, Kindle edition, location 1705.

150
an overgrown baby
: John Malcolm Brinnin,
Sextet: T.S. Eliot and Truman Capote and Others
(New York: Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence, 1981), p. 70.

150
borrows with no thought of
: “Books: Welsh Rare One,”
Time
, April 6, 1953.

150
it was all over
: Dan Wakefield,
New York in the Fifties
(New York: Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence, 1992), p. 128.

150
That kid is going to kill himself
: Brinnin,
Dylan Thomas in America
, Kindle location 1182.

151
I truly want to die
: Ibid., location 4006.

151
eighteen straight whiskies
: John Malcom Brinnin,
Dylan Thomas in America: An Intimate Journal
(London: Arlington Books, 1988), p. 272.

16: THE BEAT GENERATION

154
When the paint dried
: Sloan Wilson,
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
(Boston: Da Capo Press, 2002), p. 2.

155
absurdity of life in the United States
: Read all about their sex- and drug-fueled exploits in my first book,
Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love
(Harper Perennial, 2011).

155
American existentialists
: Norman Mailer,
The White Negro
(San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1957), page number unknown.

155
sitting around trying to think
: Wakefield,
New York in the Fifties
, p. 163.

155
Our heroes were writers
:
New York in the Fifties
, directed by Betsy Blankenbaker (First Run Features, 2001), DVD.

155
was like Paris in the twenties
: Alice Denham,
Sleeping With Bad Boys
(Las Vegas, NV: Book Republic Press, 2006), p. 59.

156
one of the three most dangerous
: Marcus Boon,
The Road of Excess: A History of Writers on Drugs
(Boston: Harvard University Press, 2002), p. 259.

156
The people here see more visions
: Barry Miles,
Ginsberg: A Biography
(New York: Harper Perennial, 1990), p. 121.

157
New Vision
: Miles,
Ginsberg: A Biography
, p. 58.

157
There wouldn't have been any Beat Generation
:
Howl
, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (Oscilloscope Laboratories, 2011), DVD; quote is from the bonus features.

157
I just can't stand it
: Colby Buzzell,
Lost in America
(New York: HarperCollins, 2011), p. 41.

157
What a great city New York is
: Ann Charters, ed.,
Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters, 1940–1956
(New York: Penguin Books, 1996), p. 130.

159
Each of Kerouac's books
: Ann Charters,
Kerouac: A Biography
(New York: Macmillan, 1994), p. 159.

159
Benny has made me see a lot
: Charters, ed.,
Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters, 1940–1956
, p. 100.

160
I saw the best minds
: Allen Ginsberg,
Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript & Variant Versions, Fully Annotated by Author, with Contemporaneous Correspondence, Account of First Public Reading, Legal Skirmishes, Precursor Texts & Bibliography
, Barry Miles, ed. (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), p. 3.

160
The period of euphoria
: William S. Burroughs,
Naked Lunch
(New York: Grove Press, 2009), p. 225.

160
Just as, more than any other novel
: Kurt Hemmer, ed.,
Encyclopedia of Beat Literature
(New York: InfoBase Publishing, 2007), p. 247.

160
He didn't object to being famous
:
What Happened to Kerouac?
, directed by Lewis MacAdams and Richard Lerner (Shout Factory Theater, 2003), DVD.

160
People knew him all over the Village
: Ibid.

160
I hitchhiked and starved
: Holly George-Warren, ed.,
The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats
(New York: Hyperion Books, 2000), p. 119.

161
no wonder Hemingway
: Charters, ed.,
Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters 1957–1969
, p. 169.

161
I'm Jack Kerouac
: George-Warren, ed.,
The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats
, p. 132.

161
Guys like Neal
: Charles E. Jarvis,
Visions of Kerouac
(Lowell, MA: Ithaca Press, 1974), p. 129.

162
I'm Catholic and I can't
: Steven Kates,
The Quotable Drunkard
(New York: Adams Media, 2011), p. 213.

162
Jack liked his scotch
: George-Warren, ed.,
The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats
, p. 134.

162
learned one of the unwritten rules
: Ibid., p. 133.

17: JUNKY

163
Artists, to my mind
: Ann Charters,
The Beats: Literary Bohemians in Postwar America
, Vol. 1 (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research, 1983), p. xiii.

163
Morphine hits the backs of the legs
: William S. Burroughs,
Junky
(New York: Penguin Books, 1977), p. 7.

163
The needle is not important
: William S. Burroughs,
Naked Lunch
(New York: Grove Press, 2009), p. 225.

164
I can't watch this
: James Grauerholz and Ira Silverberg, eds.,
Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader
(New York: Grove Press, 2000), p. 42.

165
I am forced to the appalling conclusion
: William S. Burroughs,
Queer
(New York: Penguin Books, 1987), p. xxii.

165
He shot like he wrote
: Thompson,
Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone
, p. 551.

165
Well, why don't you
: Jane Kramer,
Allen Ginsberg in America
(New York: Random House, 1970), p. 42.

166
A barrier had been broken
: Ginsberg,
Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript & Variant Versions
, p. 168.

166
glorification of madness
: Miles,
Ginsberg: A Biography
, p. 530.

166
who let themselves be fucked
: Ginsberg,
Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript & Variant Versions
, p. 4.

166
filthy, vulgar, obscene
: Ibid., p. 173.

167
Would there be any freedom of press
: Bill Morgan and Nancy Joyce Peters,
Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression
(San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2006), p. 198.

167
Disgusting,' they said
: David S. Willis, “Naked Lunch at 50,”
Beatdom
, no, 5 (2010): 12.

168
he romanticized drug use
:
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
, directed by Yony Leyser (Oscilloscope Laboratories, 2011), DVD.

168
When I was a kid
: Martin Clarke,
Kurt Cobain: The Cobain Dossier
revised and updated edition (New York: Plexus Publishing, 2006), pp. 89–90.

168
There's something wrong
: Spencer Kansa, “The Rock God,”
Beatdom
, no. 7 (2010): p. 25.

169
The thing I remember about
: Christopher Sandford,
Kurt Cobain
(Boston: Da Capo Press, 2004), p. 338.

18: DEAD POETS SOCIETY

171
Even without wars
: Anne Sexton, “Hurry Up Please It's Time,”
The Complete Poems
(New York: Mariner Books, 1999), p. 393

171
murderous and suicidal
: Eric Maisel,
The Van Gogh Blues
(New York: Rodale, 2002), p. 138.

171
made passes at women
:
The Poetry Review
, Vol. 73 (Poetry Society of America, 1983), p. 6.

172
Dylan murdered himself
: Paul L. Mariani,
Dream Song: The Life of John Berryman
(Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996), p. 274.

172
been said for sobriety
: John Berryman, “57,”
The Dream Songs
(New York: Macmillan, 2007), p. 64.

173
best students
: Mariani,
Dream Song
, p. 272.

173
Prostitution
: Dawn M. Skorczewski, ed.,
An Accident of Hope: The Therapy Tapes of Anne Sexton
(New York: Routledge, 2002), p. xvi.

173
I wanted to cuddle
: Linda Gray Sexton,
Searching for Mercy Street
(Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2011), p. 89.

174
Any demand is too much
: Ibid.

174
“kill-me” pills
: Diane Wood Middlebrook,
Anne Sexton: A Biography
(New York: Vintage Books, 1992), p. 165.

174
There's a difference between
: Ibid.

174
I ought to stop taking
: Ibid., p. 210.

174
Poetry led me by the hand
: Linda Gray Sexton and Lois Ames, eds.,
Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters
(New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1979), p. 335.

174
staying in shape
: Anne Sexton, “The Addict,”
The Complete Poems
(New York: Mariner Books, 1999), p. 165.

175
Whisky and ink
: Jane Howard, “Whisky and Ink, Whisky and Ink,”
Life
, July 21, 1967, p. 68.

175
When he first walked in
: Ibid.

175
a man alone in a room
: Ibid., p. 70.

175
I should know women
: Ibid., p. 76.

175
would be bothersome
: Ibid.

175
spinsters or lesbians
: Ibid., p. 75.

175
He sweats a lot
: Ibid., p. 70.

177
the way Americans mistreated
: Mariani,
Dream Song
, p. 333.

177
every right to be disturbed
: Jeffrey Meyers,
Manic Power
(New York: Arbor House, 1987), p. 13.

177
payment
: Mariani,
Dream Song
, p. 385.

177
We have reason to be afraid
: Howard, “Whisky and Ink, Whisky and Ink,” p. 76.

177
poor son of a bitch
: Scott Donaldson,
Fitzgerald and Hemingway: Works and Days
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2011), p. 461.

177
given the chance
: Karen V. Kukil, ed.,
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1950–1962
(New York: Random House, 2000), p. 209.

177
That death was mine
: Middlebrook,
Anne Sexton: A Biography
, p. 225.

178
O my love Kate
: Steve Marsh, “Homage to Mister Berryman,”
Mpls St Paul Magazine
(September 2008).