Which novel did Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs write together in 1945?
Answer
And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks
Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs wrote And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks together in 1945.
The unpublished novel fictionalizes the 1944 murder of David Kammerer by Lucien Carr in New York. Kerouac wrote from one character’s viewpoint, while Burroughs wrote from another, creating a two-voice structure based on the people involved in the real event.
The manuscript remained unpublished for decades because Carr, whose case formed its basis, opposed publication. Viking Press finally issued it in 2008, making the collaboration available to general readers long after both authors had died.
The book is historically important because it captures the early New York social world from which the Beat circle emerged. It should not be confused with Kerouac’s later novels or with Burroughs’s solo works. Its title comes from a line describing a fire at a dance hall.