The Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

refers to a circus fire and is the title of- until now- an unpublished work co-authored by Jack Kerouac and William S Burroughs, based on actual events involving the murder of David Kammerer by one of their own, Lucien Carr.

Click here to read an article about the book and actual events.

I can't wait to read it. New York in the 1940's/50's sounds so fucking cool. I had such a crush on Kerouac when I was in college, I read most of his books back to back. Soon I found it hard to distinguish his world from mine.

Anyhow I gotta run, but Carr is really interesting character too. You should read the article.