Customer Reviews

The Holy Goof: A Biography of Neal Cassady

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Neal Cassady was a very interesting and multi-faceted muse of the Beat writers and Kesey's Merry Pranksters, certainly an integral part of both generations. Anyone with an interest in these writers must familiarize themselves with Cassady. In this respect Plummer does an adequate job of presenting both Cassady's life and providing some background into the lives of those literary geniuses who immortalized him in their writing.
In all biographies one finds bias, it is an integral and valid part of the art. However, Plummer's bias is almost overwhelming. Constantly comparing Cassady to Chirst, lauding his virtues and beauty, Plummer creates a Cassady that becomes unbelieveable to the reader. Instead of getting to know an amazing man, one finds oneself reading a hero story, the immaculate life of Plummer's Cassady. Even Kerouac, in his works, presents a more balanced view of Neal, whom he loved as his best friend for years.
It is well written and is a decent read but if you are familiar with Cassady's life, you find your self reading a book about Willam Plummer, if you are unfamiliar you find your self reading a story about a man as realistic as Captian America.
There is so much more written on the man, and most is far superior. Read it if you must but you could do better. If adoration of Cassady is what you're looking for, read "Howl" or "On The Road" or "Visions of Cody" or even Cassady's own post-humously published autobiography "The First Third" (especially his letters) and get some great literature under your belt at the same time.

Neal Cassady is a man both revered and despised. This book, which anyone interested in the given time period should read, gives an unbiased look at Neal (the Holy Goof and fastestmanalive) and the people who surrounded him: his family, lovers, and friends (Jack Keruoac, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, etc). It neither praises nor degrades him, presenting him merely as a remarkable man and letting you decide for yourself.

The absolute finest of all the Neal biographies....you gain a true appreciation of what it was like to know--to experience-- this crazed, "fastestmanalive" from the people who lived in that special time. Read "On The Bus" by Keasy, and Neal's "First Third"....and THEN read Plummers bio.

A Good Biography of an Interesting man {the muse of On the Road} Very Descriptive this book also covers Allen Ginsberg.Jack Keroauc,William Burroughs, and Several Other people of the Scene to a lesser extent.Very Informative and Engaging.

Neil Cassady acted on the periphery of the Beat movement for much of his adult life and thus never enjoyed the fame that Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and his other contemporaries did. His written legacy is primarily the correspondence that he wrote to members of his inner circle as well as a fragmentary autobiography. And yet, in many ways, Cassady lived the Beat life that most of his renowned friends only wrote about or experienced cyclically. The author refers to him as a "natural psychopath" who didn't possess the ability to abstain from hedonism. Contrariwise, he was one of the few Beats to lead something of a "traditional" home life. Namely, he held down a job with the railroad as brakeman for ten years, married, and raised a family.

The author of the present biography, William Plummer, does a reasonable job of recounting Cassady's life. He takes us through Cassady's birth on the side of a road, the turbulent years as a child prior to his parents' divorce, his adolescence in a flophouse, numerous criminal activities, various sexual encounters (men and women), efforts made towards self-improvement, a multitude of travels (of course!), a legion of marginal jobs, marriages, time with the Merry Pranksters, and, finally, death just a few days shy of his 42nd birthday. Whew! As I read the book, I couldn't help but be reminded of Jim Morrison of the Doors. It has been written that Morrison was a big fan of "On the Road" and identified particularly with the character of Dean Moriarty. Much of Morrison's antics seem to be intentionally or unintentionally inspired by Cassady/Moriarty. While in San Quentin, Cassady said "I just want to write by myself. I'd like to retire to a little house and write, just to cultivate myself. It would be just like working in a garden--cultivate myself and cultivate the garden......" In a 1970 interview with Salli Stevenson, Morrison said "If I had it to do over again, I think I would have...a...a..gone more for the...a...quiet...a...undemonstrative little artist plodding away in his own garden trip." Sound familiar? I think both men would have been interesting acquaintances, but exasperating friends.

While basic aspects of Cassady's life are conveyed, Mr. Plummer does tend to show a certain unbridled enthusiasm towards his subject. We are told that Cassady had some psychic gifts and that he could, on occasion, answer questions that he "picked up telepathically." The author feels no need to provide any proof of such assertions other than the rather dubious hearsay evidence of a few acquaintances. This, along with a certain thread of affinity that runs throughout the book, leads one to believe that the author has set aside objectivity. Thus, caveat lector. In the end, I think this biography would be instructive to someone with no knowledge of Cassady and his cohorts, but the reader would be advised to look elsewhere for deeper insight into the man and his times.

A Good Biography of an Interesting man {the muse of On the Road} Very Descriptive this book also covers Allen Ginsberg.Jack Keroauc,William Burroughs, and Several Other people of the Scene to a lesser extent.Very Informative and Engaging.

If you've ever read the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test then it would be hard for you not to remember the fastestmanalive. He was a wildman that crossed from the Beat generation (he was Moriarity in Kerouac's On the Road) to the first inklings of the hippie generation. He also died before his time. Maybe he lived longer than anyone thought. This book was fun. Most of the characters from this period crack me up. However, sometimes this read like a fan book. Although I don't know why he needs fans. But if you are interested in the 60s (yeah!) then this is one more thing that you will get a nostalgic kick out of.