Go Now

Rating:
Summary: This book is terrible.
Review: I bought this book for cheap from an amazon seller, mostly because I am a big fan of Richard Hell the musician. His lyrics always struck me as being particularly inspired, so it was a revelation to me that his prose is lacking. Basically, the story centers on young, drug-addicted, underground rock star wannabe, Billy Mudd, who goes on a cross country trip to retrieve someone else's car from the west coast. His ex lover accompanies him on the trip, and a rather predictable string of conflicts emerges along the way. Predictable that is, until the very end, when Hell throws the reader somewhat of a curveball. Billy narrates the story in the first person the whole way through, and he has a frustrating tendency to drift off on long tangents of introspection and verbal diarrhea, much in the same way someone on drugs might do. If you were to say that the style of this novel is reminiscent of Kerouac, I'd have to respond by saying only just barely. Its like the work of a young, misguided Kerouac who hasn't quite made it past those first few ill-conceived attempts at something original and worthwhile. Or else, perhaps its more akin to the work of an old and tired Kerouac who's resorted to merely going through the motions of his once potent creative process. The only enjoyable part of this novel to me is the notion that perhaps this story is loosely based on people and events in Hell's own life, which had me trying to guess who these characters were supposed to be modelled on. For instance, my best guess is that the English band manager that sends Mudd to Los Angeles is supposed to be Malcolm McLaren, but I'm not too certain about that. In any case, I'd advise you to skip this novel unless you are an absolutely die-hard Richard Hell fan, and simply must own anything with his name on it, or you find a copy for extremely cheap and just want an easy read for your down time during the day.

Rating:
Summary: Not perfect but resplendent
Review: I have read this book twice and I sometimes open it at random just to get the feeling and human excitement the writing brings to me. I grant you it's not perfect. There is some sloppiness and places where he goes too far, but this book is mesmerizing and lovely. I see that some of the reviewers seem to resent a person who is a rock and roll musician publishing a book of fiction. Well it so happens that Patti Smith IS a remarkable writer, and so is Richard Hell. (So is Jim Carroll for that matter -- it's his rock and roll that's doubtful. Same goes for Patti Smith in my opinion.) People also resent writing that deals with drug users. The lead character in this book is a drug addict -- yearning to get free of it -- but the book is about being human, in other words having animal drives that are contrary to one's ideals. It's sexy too. But even more it's about perception. The book's insights are as deep as any novel that's appeared in thirty years. You should read it.

Rating:
Summary: really three and a half stars
Review: I love R. Hell. In this book,he doesn't squirm away from letting his narcissism, mysogeny and his bend toward sadism hang out dripping wet for us to inspect. Some passages are gut wrenching honesty. I wouldn't really read this as a novel, though. I picked it up and put it down at leisure, with the exception of San Francisco to Colorado. And then Kentucky is backyard to some dirty long jones.

I felt more that I was peeking into a diary, not reading a novel. I just expect more. But read it all the same; it's good stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent.
Review: I must confess I bought this book after becoming completely infatuated with Richard Hell and books about heroin. I've read both "Junkie" by William S. Burroughs and "Go Now" and I just have to admit I liked this book better that the two. The choice of words and poetic prose make this book both make you want to cry at the beauty the main character (Billy) sees and feels, and yet can also thrum up feelings of utter disgust, and I love this book for that. Thank you, Richard Hell, for such an amazing book.

Rating:
Summary: JACK KEROUAC'S LOST NOVEL
Review: Let me just begin by making this observation: there are two types of people in this world -- those who love ON THE ROAD and those who love VISIONS OF CODY. Both novels are by Jack Kerouac; both novels are basically the same tale; both novels expand the standard and mundane concept of "the novel" to new and hitherto untouched heights. And now there is a THIRD novel to add to this literary pantheon: GO NOW by Richard Hell. Hell is channeling Kerouac, while still maintaining a singular, original voice. This is a "road" novel, through and through, but it goes in directions that ol' Jack would never have imagined (or dared utter). Yes, yes, yes...we've heard about the drug use, the hedonism, the self-absorbion. But Hell goes beyond that during the Kentucky phase of the book. Possibly the hottest, most erotic incest scene in the history of literature is contained on the pages of GO NOW. Kerouac never would've had the guts to go there. Hail to the new master of prosody. Now it's time for a new novel, Richard.

Rating:
Summary: Moonlighting?
Review: Richard Hell (not his real name) was a Voidoid, a junkie, and an original NYC punk rocker in the early 1970s. Now he has written a novel, about--guess what?--a has-been musician who is a junkie, who lives in the Lower East Side. (Hell lives near Avenue A). The main character Billy Mud reads stuff like... Baudelaire! Wow! He has a French girlfriend who... does cocaine! Alright! But Billy is also self-effacing and is a writer on a mission. This has nothing to do with the self-reflexive metafiction of Flann O'Brien or Philippe Sollers. So much for the life of the imaginative writer. Everything now is veiled autobiography I guess.

Maybe the terrible people who think Marianne Faithful and Patti Smith are good writers will like this book? Is Henry Rollins reading this? This is a review of a book reviewer who is actually a novelist in disguise. Just checking if you are awake! (...) his Billy goes to California, to drive a car across the United States. This is an original road novel. Oh yeah, I forgot about Kerouac for a minute. Maybe Mr. Hell isn't familiar with William Burroughs or Bret Easton Ellis either? This book starts out as a sketch of a junkie, and then, falls off the track. I wonder how much this book was edited, because in New York publishing sometimes editors are heavy handed. I would like to see another unedited Richard Hell novel that is more ambitious, as I expect to see a rival novel by Tom Verlaine. Generally, I am sick and tired of rockers who think that they can write, let alone spell. It is almost as tiresome as actors now wanting to be in bands. There is hope for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: An articulate tour of Hell and degradation
Review: this book was amazing and beautiful. almost poetic in all of it's disgusting and lovely ways. the way things are taken, meditated on, disected, and explained is talent on richard hell's part. it's a great novel. and i think everyone should be exposed to it. have a chance to read it.

Rating:
Summary: warped reality
Review: When I first heard of this book, I had to get it... I mean Richard Hell! I love him!
From the second I opened this book I couldn't put it down. Not to say it was fantastic, but it was so real. It felt like walking into someone's brain (primal/animalistic urges). Fascinating.
Through every chapter you got to know the inner workings of this addict, what moved them and destroyed them. In short, how fragile life is, and how misdirected we can be by our intuition under the influence of anything and everything. Air included. Buy this. Read it. Be disturbed.