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'''Go''' is a semi-autobiographical novel by John Clellon Holmes. (Holmes referred to the book as a Roman à clef.) It is considered to be the first novel depicting the Beat Generation. Set in New York it concerns the lives of a collection of characters largely based on the friends Holmes used to hang around with in the 1940s and 1950s in Manhattan. An underworld of drug-fuelled parties, bars, clubs and free love is explored through the eyes of ''Paul Hobbes'', Holmes' representation of himself in the novel. Hobbes is torn between joining his friends in their riotous existence and trying to maintain his relatively stable life and marriage to his wife Kathryn.

Contents

Plot introduction

Different Titles

Characters in "Go"

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Release details

Footnotes

Plot introduction

''Go'' concerns protagonist Paul Hobbes' struggle to maintain his marriage to his wife, Kathryn, while simultaneously indulging in the world of the 1940s and 1950s Beat Generation. It follows the complications of interpersonal relationships arising from a group of disillusioned and often eccentric young people. Hobbes finds himself in a world of promiscuity, casual drug use and petty crime but retains a certain detachment from it, sometimes to the annoyance of his friends. From wild all night parties to Allen Ginsberg's visions of William Blake to the death of Bill Cannastra, the events of the book are largely real events, some of them pertained to in other beat works, most notably Ginsberg's Howl. Holmes has said that the only plot element entirely invented by himself is Kathryn's infidelity. ^[1]

Different Titles

The original manuscript was named ''The Daybreak Boys'' as an allusion to a rivergang on the New York waterfront in the 1840s, but this title was rejected as a book with a similar title had been published by Scribner's shortly before ''Go'' was received. The word ''Go'' appears regularly in the book, spoken by many of the cast of characters, almost as a mantra. In Britain ''Go'' was originally published as ''The Beat Boys''.

Characters in "Go"

The characters in ''Go'' are, as was common in beat generation literature, representations of the real people the author knew while writing the book.

★ ''Gene Pasternak'' is Jack Kerouac

★ ''David Stofsky'' is Allen Ginsberg

★ ''Paul Hobbes'' is John Clellon Holmes

★ ''Hart Kennedy'' is Neal Cassady

★ ''Bill Agatson'' is Bill Cannastra

★ ''Albert Ancke'' is Herbert Huncke

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In the mid-eighties ''Go'' was adapted as a play and performed at Al's Bar, in downtown Los Angeles. The play was written by Suzan Averitt and Michael Lucchesi. Lucchesi produced it while Averitt directed it and also appeared as ''Christine'', girlfriend of ''Gene Pasternak''. ''Go'' was the first play to be directed by Averitt, and received Pick of the Week in the LA Weekly. 'Go' at Al's Bar received the blessing of John Clellon Holmes, who told Averitt (after Averitt and Lucchesi sent him a sound tape of a rehearsal) that while the NY Actors Studio had workshopped a version, theirs was the only one to find the humor in the book and communicate it onstage. There were 19 people in the cast, and the show was divided into three parties, rather than acts. Large portions of the text were narrated by the 'author' (played by Neil Kinsella) seated at the back of the bar on a microphone. Different versions of Nights of Tunesia played throughout the show. The role of Hart Kennedy was played by Robert Patrick (Terminator 2)

Release details

★ 1952, USA, Scribner's (ISBN 0141188391), Pub date ? ? 1952, hardback

Footnotes

1. Introduction to 'Go' written by John Clellon Holmes in 1976, Penguin, 2006.