Customer Reviews

Get Home Free

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John Clellon Holmes was at the core of the so-called Beat Generation; he was present at the Times Square Coffee Shop, with Burroughs and Huncke, when Kerouac first defined the term. However, Holmes hasn't seemed to garner the attention of his more celebrated colleagues. This is true for a number of reasons. One, his life was more stable and ordinary than his friends', although he was still quite active in the bohemian events of the day. Two, his narrative style is much more traditonal than Burroughs, Kerouac, et al. For both reasons, the media has less to focus on--from a sensationalist angle. From a literary perspective, though, critics have a wonderful specimen. Holmes is a gifted writer. Go is perhaps the most accomplished novel chronicling the "beat" experience. It is not astonishing or avant-garde in structure, language, or plot--it is simply a great work. Go is full of astute insights regarding the era and its values. Holmes has a great deal of skill with the nuances of character and setting. Get Home Free, on the other hand, doesn't quite live up to the promise of Holmes' early work. The vitality is still there, but as the reader moves away from Manhattan, the details are neither as compelling nor as vivid.