Welton, Jim (Thomas, Mack)

Mack Thomas: The Total Beat

ISBN: 9780997897906
San Antonio, TX: Broken Weather Press, 2016. First Edition. Softcover. A short, concise biography of Mack Thomas (1928-2016), an important Beat Generation literary figure & associate of William S. Burroughs whose life & legacy are rescued from obscurity by author Jim Welton. In his review of this volume in a recent issue of the indispensable Beat Scene magazine (No. 99, Winter 2020, item No. 4123), Gregory Stephenson writes: "This slender paperback volume- published four years ago by a small press in Texas- would seem so far to have escaped the notice of Beat Generation readers and scholars. Only by accident did I come across it during research on the internet. The name of Mack Sheldon Thomas will be familiar to readers of Ted Morgan's Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs (item No. 1698)...Mack Thomas was a close friend of (WSB) in the late 1950s during the heady days of the Beat Hotel in Paris, participating with Burroughs & Brion Gysin in occult experiments...Thomas was the author of two novels: Gumbo (1965) and The Total Beast (1970) (*the title of Welton's biography is obviously a play on the latter novel's). His short fiction appeared in the pages of the Evergreen Review and his jazz criticism in Kulchur...Jim Welton's book chronicles his admirable efforts to set about writing a biography of this elusive, reclusive author. Resourceful & persistent, Welton succeeds in visiting and interviewing (Thomas)..." (pg. 58) Trade-format softcover original, first edition copyrighted 2016. On the final page leaf is the statement: "Made in the USA/ Monee, IL/ 27 January 2021." This is therefore a print-on-demand production. An intriguing, informative attempt to restore a theretofore missing piece of the Beat puzzle-legacy, with some significant anecdotal incite into WSB. In very fine, as-new condition with only a bit of rubbing to glossy front, back covers & spine; a few miniscule bumps at edges & corners of same. Interior substantially mint except for tiny bumps at upper corners of a few page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #4353]

Price: $25.00