Customer Reviews

Nothing Is True - Everything Is Permitted: The Life of Brion Gysin

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, I'm going to have a bit each way here. On one hand, this book has a lot of valuable information in it about the life of Brion Gysin. I was interested in Gysin through my interest in William Burroughs, his collaborator. I am sure a lot of people will be coming to Gysin down this path. I have read 'Here to Go' which is basically a book of interviews with Gysin. I must say that despite the information here, the author (Geiger) has managed to make Gysin's life dull. That's a real shame, because Gysin's life appears to be have been anything but boring. Though there are some interesting sections (one that springs to mind is the saga of the Dreamachine, which Geiger appears to be something of an authority on), much of the narrative is dull.

I will not go as far as one of the above reviewers in saying that the book is badly written. Though it is true that there are several awkward passages, my main gripe was that this did not seem to be a sympathetic, invigorating portryal of Gysin's life and ideas. By this I mean that the author simply describes his subject, without trying very hard to explain what Gysin might have been up to. There are several sections where Geiger seems to disagree with Gysin or even disregard his stance. Now, many of Gysin's opinions are hard to defend (especially the mysoginy) but Geiger makes little attempt to explain Gysin's position. I have a feeling that Geiger would have been more diplomatic in what he says about Gysin had Gysin (or indeed Burroughs) still been alive at the time of publication.

This is sad, because I don't suppose there will be another biography of Gysin anytime soon. What highlighted the deficiencies of this book to me was my reading of another biography, this one of James Tiptree Jr., which I read virtually concurrently with this book. I can't help but think that something is missing here. This book reads like it had been a chore to write, and at times it is surely a chore to read. I cannot recommend this to anyone but the most fervent Gysin fan.

This is one of the most enjoyble bios that I have read in years. The author brings a staggering amount of info to the reader in a concise manner. I was waiting a long time for a bio on Gysin and I lucked out here. One I will reread.

I won't write a long review, there's plenty of them here already.
The biography covers Gysin's life pretty well, it has all the mile stones, explains what happened when and where, all you need in a biography. It's fairly well written in a style that doesn't take your attention away from the "plot". It does cover a lot of Ginsberg's and Burroughs' lives as well, which is what you'd expect in Gysin biography, especially for someone like me, and I'm not alone, who got into Gysin through Burroughs and the Beats.
One thing I should add that I haven't read elsewhere: This book is oddly designed. The paper is thick, probably 90 g paper, with perforated edges and a thick cover. This is a true coffee table book, but one you'd also want to take with you and read on the train/bus, etc. I carried around this heavy book in my bag for a week, and it did weigh me down. But it's a beautiful book, design-wise, and although the author doesn't seem like Gysins biggest fan, is fair in its judgement of Gysin and his life.

Gysin is an almost forgotten hero of the Beat generation, and lived his entire life never really being recognized. To me, it seems like mere coincidence that Burroughs got more famous than Gysin, but that's how art and literature works, I guess.

I'd recommend buying this with the collection of interviews by Terry Southern (another forgotten soul) Brion Gysin: Here To Go

After finishing this book I felt sorry for Gysin-- despite his interesting ideas regarding his painting, the cut-up, and general magickal mayhem circa the "Beat Hotel" days, he instead chose to be a hanger-on to cosmopolitan royalty and the wealthy. Even his attempt at writing a screenplay for "Naked Lunch" was dreadful--strange since he read it pre-publication and spoke to Burroughs for hours regarding the book. I do agree with another reviewer that the biographer doesn't delve into the ideas behind Gysin's visual work very thoroughly...but that may be because Gysin never outlined any (non) direction regarding his work. Nevertheless, for anyone interested in Gysin Idorecommend this book. Thanks to the author for undertaking such a task.