The First Third

The First Third
by Neal Cassady

The First Third
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Book Summary Information

Author: Neal Cassady
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-01-01
ISBN: 0872860051
Number of pages: 226
Publisher: City Lights Publishers

Book Reviews of The First Third

Book Review: For Die-Hards Only
Summary: 1 Stars

As a reader who came to this book from a curiosity about Neal Cassady the person, I was disapointed to say the least. It's ironic that the book that offers the least insight into the workings of Neal Cassady's mind would be his own autobiography. I can't say very much about his prose either--his letters, if anything, capture the best of his essence for posterity. Perhaps Neal was just too pragmatic before a daunting typewriter and the task of recording his life--he is too chronological and spends too much time on his family tree, which is not fascinating enough to warrant it. The book, which reads more like a school paper, ends with Neal still a child. He should have started with "The Third Third" and worked backwards.

Summary of The First Third

Immortalized as Dean Moriarty by Jack Kerouac in his epic novel, On the Road, Neal Cassady was infamous for his unstoppable energy and his overwhelming charm, his savvy hustle and his devil-may-care attitude. A treasured friend and traveling companion of Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and Ken Kesey, to name just some of his cohorts on the beatnik path, Cassady lived life to the fullest, ready for inspiration at any turn.

Before he died in Mexico in 1968, just four days shy of his forty-second birthday, Cassady had written the jacket blurb for this book: "Seldom has there been a story of a man so balled up. No doubt many readers will not believe the veracity of the author, but I assure these doubting Thomases that every incident, as such, is true."

As Ferlingetti writes in his editor's note, Cassady was "an early prototype of the urban cowboy who a hundred years ago might have been an outlaw on the range." Here are his autobiographical writings, the rambling American saga of a truly free individual.

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