A novel by Ishmael Reed. It was published in '71 or 2 but the story takes place in 1920s New York, Harlem. It was one of the books that influenced Shea and Wilson to write the Illuminatus Trilogy. When I first read Illuminatus in '86, I was serving in the US Navy and had just left the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for Norfolk, VA. It was in a Norfolk bookstore that I first saw it. It was just sitting there on a shelf and as soon as my eye fell on it, for some reason, I had to have it. I didn't even skim through it but just grabbed it and carried up to the cashier. That book, really 3 in 1, changed my life to a certain extent. What was interesting was that it had references to Lovecraft's writings, Burroughs and W.A.S.T.E. from Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49" all of which I was already a big fan of. It was like I was ordained to read it. It was my first introduction to conspiracy theories, secret societies, occultism, the mystery of Dutch Schultz and the number 23, and all that stuff. I mean, it was a lot of put-on and I knew it but the point was to get you to think outside the box which it certainly made me do. My world-view changed forever. Moreover, I've encountered others online who have said the same thing.
About the only thing mentioned in the book that I had not previously read was Ishmael Reed's "Mumbo Jumbo." So I had to find it. There was a used book place in Norfolk run by a guy who really cared about what he stocked. I figured that he'd have it if anyone so I went there and asked him if he had Mumbo Jumbo and--whaddaya know--he had it. I still have that copy buried deep somewhere in my vast book collection (I have 'em going all the way to the 16th century with pig skin covers and vellum pages). So I took the book back to my ship and read it whenever I could squeeze in some reading time--usually while on mid-watch or the 4-to-8 (in the am). Reed is a black author greatly influenced by the beat poets.
Again, it introduced me to things I had not previously ever thought about--the formation of ragtime, jazz and blues, vodoun, Afro-centrism, Marcus Garvey and the Atonists. Teh book was by turns a play, a novel, a treatise, a scholarly essay, a bibliography. It was obvious the book had a huge influence on Illuminatus. I lent it to a couple of my hipper shipmates and they loved it. Your mind never drifts because it's so interesting. I'm hesitant to go into it to any degree because you really should read it. I'm wondering who here has.
About the only thing mentioned in the book that I had not previously read was Ishmael Reed's "Mumbo Jumbo." So I had to find it. There was a used book place in Norfolk run by a guy who really cared about what he stocked. I figured that he'd have it if anyone so I went there and asked him if he had Mumbo Jumbo and--whaddaya know--he had it. I still have that copy buried deep somewhere in my vast book collection (I have 'em going all the way to the 16th century with pig skin covers and vellum pages). So I took the book back to my ship and read it whenever I could squeeze in some reading time--usually while on mid-watch or the 4-to-8 (in the am). Reed is a black author greatly influenced by the beat poets.
Again, it introduced me to things I had not previously ever thought about--the formation of ragtime, jazz and blues, vodoun, Afro-centrism, Marcus Garvey and the Atonists. Teh book was by turns a play, a novel, a treatise, a scholarly essay, a bibliography. It was obvious the book had a huge influence on Illuminatus. I lent it to a couple of my hipper shipmates and they loved it. Your mind never drifts because it's so interesting. I'm hesitant to go into it to any degree because you really should read it. I'm wondering who here has.
