Trocchi s final and most feted work apart from the oddsandends poetry shambles, man at leisure, also republished by alma classics, is a fragmented and not entirely unpretentious novelofsorts that seems to be more of a deeply psychological exploration of the author s uncompromising outsider s worldview than any sort of seminal drug novel as labelled by most, including burroughs. Written in america while trocchi was working on a scow on the hudson river, cains book is an extraordinary autobiographical account about a junkys life, and. Cains book, alexander trocchis drugrelated mastercrime, is a novel to give to minors, a book to corrupt young people. So begins cain s book, alexander trocchi s incredible novel of existential dread. Written in america while trocchi was working on a scow on the hudson river, cains book is an extraordinary autobiographical account about. Author alexander trocchis muse was drugsbut in this novel, he does not romanticize the source of his inspiration. This is the journal of joe necchi, a junkie living on a barge that plie. In the 1960s trocchi lived in observatory gardens, kensington, london on the two top floors of a 19th century terrace block comprising six stories. Mar 28, 2020 so begins cains book, alexander trocchis incredible novel of existential dread. Alexander trocchi 19251984 was a scottish novelist whose numerous works include cains book. He attended the university of glasgow from 19421943 and from 19461950, and served in the royal navy from 19431946. Trocchi was then deep in the throes of heroin addiction. Mean streets alexander trocchi was the smackaddled icon of beat literature, whose writings have been eclipsed by a lurid life of porn, pimping. John citizen can sit back feeling exonerated and watch evil get its deserts.
Alexander trocchi, the author of cains book and young adam, was born in glasgow, scotland, in during the s and s he lived mainly in paris. A roman a clef, it details the life of joe necchi, a heroin addict and writer, who is living and. Trocchis later novel, cains book 1961 is heavily autobiographical, describing the mental processes and nonhappenings of its heroinaddicted central protagonist, joe necchi, who is also. Feb 01, 2011 documentary on alexander trocchi 1925 84, scottish born writer, poet, translator and author of young adam and cain s book. Spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young adam and cains book. But its cains book that best fulfils trocchis hopes. He injected himself on camera during a live television debate on drug abuse, despite being on bail at the time. Tasker g 2014 spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young adam and cains book.
Under the name frances lengel, trocchi churned out numerous pornographic books including the now classic helen and desire 1954 and a dirty version of his own book young adam 1954. Jan 19, 2012 he argued that art and life are no longer divided, and because of this integral interrelationship, ill begin with a brief biographical overview of his literary life. Am article cum alma reprint of cains book intro tom mccarthy pinpoints trocchis writing as between two points, a white tundra and a black ocean. Cains book kindle edition by alexander trocchi, greil.
Dec, 2011 martyn wade, chief executive and national librarian introduces cain s book by scottish beat generation writer alexander trocchi s and looks at some of the reasons why it was banned on. Spatial subversion in alexander trocchi s young adam and cain s book. Cains book by alexander trocchi nook book ebook barnes. The junky genius of alexander trocchi books the guardian. Alexander trocchi 19251984 was a scottish author, publisher and activist. Written in america while trocchi was working on a scow on the hudson river, cains book is an extraordinary autobiographical account about a junkys life, and an honest, raunchy.
If the experience of heroin, of the fix, is central to cains book, both its destructive force and the possibilities it holds for creativity are recognized and accepted without apology. The introductions for my copy, by greil marcus and richard seaver, are two of the. Alexander trocchi was born in glasgow in 1925 to an italian father and scottish mother. Aug 24, 2017 alexander trocchi left glasgow university with the honours of a brilliant philosophy scholar. The biography of alexander trocchi suggests a life of many parts.
See all books authored by alexander trocchi, including cains book, and young adam, and more on thriftbooks. The jury is still out on whether young adam or cain s book is trocchi s greatest work, but regardless the former remains the best introduction to his writing because it is so much more typical of his protopostmodernist approach. Trocchi, alexander, seaver, richard, marcus, greil. This new edition of the criticallyacclaimed biography of alexander trocchi has been revised, extended and updated since its first publication in 1991 when it helped to create new interest in the celebrated and notorious author of young adam and cains book. Alexander trocchi left glasgow university with the honours of a brilliant philosophy scholar. The jury is still out on whether young adam or cains book is trocchis greatest work, but regardless the former remains the best introduction to his writing because it is so much more typical of his protopostmodernist approach. A heroin addict, he is best known for cains book, an autobiographical account of his sexual misadventures and drug abuse whilst living in new york.
Scott, published a biography of alexander trocchi entitled. Alexander trocchi, the author of cain s book and young adam, was born in glasgow, scotland, in during the s and s he lived mainly in paris. Documentary on alexander trocchi 1925 1984, scottish born writer, poet, translator and author of young adam and cains book. Alexander trocchis pages drift past, monotonous and stark and radiant. Cains book is trocchis selfreflexive look at his life as a junky. Its negative in the strict chemical or photographic sense of the word.
Young adam, of course, was turned into a successful film starring ewan mcgregor, and helped to raise the authors public perception a little. Cains book kindle edition by alexander trocchi, greil marcus, richard seaver. A roman a clef, it details the life of joe necchi, a heroin addict and writer, who is living and working on a scow on the hudson river in new york the book alternates between necchi trocchi s attempts to score and flashbacks to his experiences as a child in glasgow, and later as a young man in london and paris. In paris, he founded merlin the outstanding literary magazine, wrote novels for olympia press, experimented with heroin and became hooked. Cains book trocchi, alexander, seaver, richard, marcus, greil on. Tasker g 2014 spatial subversion in alexander trocchi s young adam and cain s book. Cains book is trocchi s selfreflexive look at his life as a junky. But it s cain s book that best fulfils trocchi s hopes.
Alexander trocchi the art and popular culture encyclopedia. Cain s book is trocchi s selfreflexive look at his life as a junky. Bookmark file pdf cains book alexander trocchi cains book alexander trocchi alexander trocchi. Trocchi was deep in the thralls of heroin now, he failed to attend his own launch party for cains book, and his wife lyn was prostitiuting herself on the streets of the lower east. During the 1950s and 1960s he lived mainly in paris and new york and gained fame as one of the most talented writers, in both prose and poetry, of the period. Aug 08, 2003 mean streets alexander trocchi was the smackaddled icon of beat literature, whose writings have been eclipsed by a lurid life of porn, pimping and dissolution in new york, paris and london. He argued that art and life are no longer divided, and because of this integral interrelationship, ill begin with a brief biographical overview of his literary life. Cains book is the first novel by scottish beat writer alexander trocchi. The water is dungcoloured and slides away smoothly, horizontally before the eye. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading cain s book. Alexander trocchi 192584 left glasgow university with the honours of a brilliant philosophy scholar. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading cains book. Cains book is a novel by scottish beat writer alexander trocchi, first published in 1960.
Aug 04, 2014 foreword to cains book by alexander trocchi 1993 alexander trocchi was a legendary figure in his lifetime. Spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young adam and cain. Trocchi and his friends also published samuel beckett s war and memory and jean genet s thief s journal in english for the first time. If the experience of heroin, of the fix, is central to cains book, both its destructive force and the. This will give a context for the three different examples of trocchis writing that ill go on to introduce. The introduction s for my copy, by greil marcus and richard seaver, are two of the most dismissive, pessimistic book intros ive read. Apr 12, 2002 cain s book is a novel by scottish beat writer alexander trocchi, first published in 1960. Young adam, its predecessor, is better known, but the latter is. It was at this time too that trocchi wrote cains book telling of his sexual.
Cains book is a 1960 novel by scottish beat writer alexander trocchi. The uncanny nature of the heterotopia, their contradictory spatiality, and their implicitly subversive disruption of social norms, makes them particularly relevant to alexander trocchis texts and, as i will argue, to the concept of the edge. He resided mainly in paris and new york throughout his life. Furthermore, whilst william burroughs cooked a naked lunch, trocchi cooked up a naked fix. He had a short spell in the navy before studying philosophy at the university of glasgow. An early sequence in cains book takes us through a kind of proust moment of perception and recall in which trocchi, watching a man urinating in an alley, becomes like a piece of sensitive photographic paper, waiting passively. Cains book alexander trocchi, greil marcus, richard seaver isbn. Not that these are the only junkie novels far from it but they are both wellknown in their own areas, the burroughs one obviously better known generally. Jan 23, 2009 the jury is still out on whether young adam or cains book is trocchis greatest work, but regardless the former remains the best introduction to his writing because it is so much more typical of his protopostmodernist approach. The obvious book to compare this one to is william burroughs naked lunch. Alexander trocchi, the author of cains book and young adam, was born in glasgow, scotland, in 1925. He was seen as a man of towering literary genius, fated to cut a swath through the world.
Young adam, of course, was turned into a successful film starring ewan mcgregor, and helped to raise the author s public perception a little. Trocchi began writing poetry and prose in the late 1940s, and by the early 1950s was an established member of the artistic avantgarde. A roman a clef, it details the life of joe necchi, a heroin addict and writer, who is living and working on a scow on the hudson river in new york. Documentary on alexander trocchi 1925 84, scottish born writer, poet, translator and author of young adam and cains book. Cains film 1969 documentary on alexander trocchi 1925 84, scottish born writer, poet, translator and author of young adam and cains. Cain s film 1969 documentary on alexander trocchi 1925 84, scottish born writer, poet, translator and author of young adam and cain s. Banned books part 2 cains book by alexander trocchi youtube. A roman a clef, it details the life of joe necchi, a heroin addict and writer, who is living and working on a scow on the hudson river, new york. Bereft of the usual ripples, furrows and climaxes that pepper the kind of generic fiction so pervasive today, trocchis novel is content to explore the impasse of bleak repetition that every serious person can but accept.
A heroin addict, he is best known for cain s book, an autobiographical account of his sexual misadventures and drug abuse whilst living in new york. Alexander trocchi 192584 was a controversial scottish novelist of the beat generation. His wife lyn prostituted herself on the streets of the lower east side. Spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young adam. Martyn wade, chief executive and national librarian introduces cains book by scottish beat generation writer alexander trocchis and looks at some of the reasons why it was banned on. Much like young adam, cains book avoids any conventional narrative. Mccarthy implies that the black ocean is the void of ink. Banned books part 2 cains book by alexander trocchi martyn wade, chief executive and national.
Banned books part 2 cain s book by alexander trocchi martyn wade, chief executive and national. Trocchis final and most feted work apart from the oddsandends poetry shambles, man at leisure, also republished by alma classics, is a fragmented and not entirely unpretentious novelofsorts that seems to be more of a deeply psychological exploration of the authors uncompromising outsiders worldview than any sort of seminal drug novel as labelled by most, including burroughs. He was an editor of the literary journal merlin, which published works by eugene ionesco, samuel beckett, jeanpaul sartre, and others. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Aug 23, 2007 young adam, of course, was turned into a successful film starring ewan mcgregor, and helped to raise the author s public perception a little. Written in america while trocchi was working on a scow on the hudson river, cains book is an extraordinary autobiographical account about a.
He moved to paris in the mid40s where he started writing first as editor of a magazine called merlin as well as other magazines, and then erotic fiction for the. Everyone gets something out of it except the junkie. This new edition of the criticallyacclaimed biography of alexander trocchi has been revised, extended and updated since its first publication in 1991 when it helped to create new interest in the celebrated and notorious author of young adam and cain s book. If hes lucky he can creep round the corner and get a fix. Not that these are the only junkie novels far from it but they are both wellknown in their own areas.
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