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Back in No Time: The Brion Gysin Reader
First anthology of writings of a brilliant avant-garde figure
Brion Gysin (1916 – 1986) was a visual artist, historian, novelist, and an experimental poet credited with the discovery of the 'cut-up' technique ― a collage of texts, not pictures ― which his longtime collaborator William S. Burroughs put to more extensive use. He is also considered one of the early innovators of sound poetry, which he defines as 'getting poetry back off the page and into performance.' Back in No Time gathers materials from the entire Gysin oeuvre: scholarly historical study, baroque fiction, permutated and cut-up poetry, unsettling memoir, selections from The Process and The Last Museum, and his unproduced screenplay of Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch. In addition, the Reader contains complete texts of several Gysin pieces that are difficult to find, including "Poem of Poems," "The Pipes of Pan," and "A Quick Trip to Alamut."
Brion Gysin (1916 – 1986) was a visual artist, historian, novelist, and an experimental poet credited with the discovery of the 'cut-up' technique ― a collage of texts, not pictures ― which his longtime collaborator William S. Burroughs put to more extensive use. He is also considered one of the early innovators of sound poetry, which he defines as 'getting poetry back off the page and into performance.' Back in No Time gathers materials from the entire Gysin oeuvre: scholarly historical study, baroque fiction, permutated and cut-up poetry, unsettling memoir, selections from The Process and The Last Museum, and his unproduced screenplay of Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch. In addition, the Reader contains complete texts of several Gysin pieces that are difficult to find, including "Poem of Poems," "The Pipes of Pan," and "A Quick Trip to Alamut."
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 15, 2002
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About the author
Brion Gysin
42 books90 followersJohn Clifford Brian Gysin, raised in Canada and England, was a peripheral figure in the Beat movement of the mid-20th century.
After serving is the U.S. Army during WWII, he received one of the first Fulbright Fellowships in 1949. A decade later he became closely associated with Beat writer William S. Burroughs. Their popularization of the Dadaist "cut-up technique" are the primary source of Gysin's literary fame.
After serving is the U.S. Army during WWII, he received one of the first Fulbright Fellowships in 1949. A decade later he became closely associated with Beat writer William S. Burroughs. Their popularization of the Dadaist "cut-up technique" are the primary source of Gysin's literary fame.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 4, 2012
After reading the passages excerpted in this volume, I have to say that it's a crime that this is pretty much the only writing of Gysin's that is currently in print (although I did manage to score the last copy of The Process from the distributors at my bookstore job shortly after I purchased this book). Fantastic writing, orbiting just slightly outside the circle of the Beats, and highly recommended.
September 29, 2012
Gysin is less known than he ought to be. Many people only know him through mentions in relation to the writer William S. Burroughs--the final passage of hisThe Ticket That Exploded transitions from printed words to an illustration of Brion Gyin's calligraphic script, the book essentially dissolving. Gysin was also very influential in being the inventor of the cut-up technique, which influenced several of Burroughs' books.
Which is a shame since he was a visual artist, writer, historian, inventor, poet, and avant guarde innovator. There's little of his writing available, I was able to find this in the public library. He is perhaps taken less seriously than he should be, due to the eclectic range of his interests. Robert Palmer of theThe New York Times described him as a man who "threw off the sort of ideas that ordinary artists would parlay into a lifetime career, great clumps of ideas, as casually as a locomotive throws off sparks."
I enjoyed some types of his writing more than others, but the range of concerns in this slim volume is astounding.
A few biographical details--
Born in England to Canadian parents, he moved to Paris in his teens.
He crossed paths with much of the avant guarde and counter culture. He made literary and artistic contacts through Marie Berthe Aurenche, Max Ernst's second wife. He joined the Surrealist Group and began frequenting Valentine Hugo, Leonor Fini,Salvador Dalí, Picasso and Dora Maar.
He lived in Tangier, and ran a restaurant called the Thousand and One Nights. He met Burroughs there.
He lived in the Beat Hotel and knew many of the Beats.
He developed artistic styles based around calligraphic and repeated imagery.
He created auditory and concrete music using spliced tape recordings.
He invented the "cut-up" technique which extended some of the earlier experiments of the surrealists. In using a Stanley blade to cut a mount for a drawing, he sliced through newspapers, and realized that the cut up words could be recombined in literature in the same way as collage is used in art, and alerted Burroughs to the technique which was incorporated in Naked Lunch.
He wrote a discerning biography of Josiah Henson (the real life model for Uncle Tom) which gave him an entre into black intellectual circles.
He invented and patented a form of kinetic sculpture called "the Dream Machine" that induces visions via flashing lights timed to correspond with alpha rhythms.
He wrote song lyrics.
He sang and recited his poetry in jazz albums.
He wrote several novels.
He wrote computer generated permutation poems which make their impact as much through visual pattern as through the words they contain.
Here's a sample of his art:
BRION GYSIN'S 16.4 METER MAKIMONO AND MAGNUM OPUS
Here's a capsule biography:
http://briongysin.com/?category_name=...
To learn more about him:
http://briongysin.com/
Which is a shame since he was a visual artist, writer, historian, inventor, poet, and avant guarde innovator. There's little of his writing available, I was able to find this in the public library. He is perhaps taken less seriously than he should be, due to the eclectic range of his interests. Robert Palmer of theThe New York Times described him as a man who "threw off the sort of ideas that ordinary artists would parlay into a lifetime career, great clumps of ideas, as casually as a locomotive throws off sparks."
I enjoyed some types of his writing more than others, but the range of concerns in this slim volume is astounding.
A few biographical details--
Born in England to Canadian parents, he moved to Paris in his teens.
He crossed paths with much of the avant guarde and counter culture. He made literary and artistic contacts through Marie Berthe Aurenche, Max Ernst's second wife. He joined the Surrealist Group and began frequenting Valentine Hugo, Leonor Fini,Salvador Dalí, Picasso and Dora Maar.
He lived in Tangier, and ran a restaurant called the Thousand and One Nights. He met Burroughs there.
He lived in the Beat Hotel and knew many of the Beats.
He developed artistic styles based around calligraphic and repeated imagery.
He created auditory and concrete music using spliced tape recordings.
He invented the "cut-up" technique which extended some of the earlier experiments of the surrealists. In using a Stanley blade to cut a mount for a drawing, he sliced through newspapers, and realized that the cut up words could be recombined in literature in the same way as collage is used in art, and alerted Burroughs to the technique which was incorporated in Naked Lunch.
He wrote a discerning biography of Josiah Henson (the real life model for Uncle Tom) which gave him an entre into black intellectual circles.
He invented and patented a form of kinetic sculpture called "the Dream Machine" that induces visions via flashing lights timed to correspond with alpha rhythms.
He wrote song lyrics.
He sang and recited his poetry in jazz albums.
He wrote several novels.
He wrote computer generated permutation poems which make their impact as much through visual pattern as through the words they contain.
Here's a sample of his art:
BRION GYSIN'S 16.4 METER MAKIMONO AND MAGNUM OPUS
Here's a capsule biography:
http://briongysin.com/?category_name=...
To learn more about him:
http://briongysin.com/
May 29, 2008
I always thought that Brion Gysin wrote the Burroughs biography I liked so much, but it turns out I was wrong. Barry Miles wrote it. Still under the false impression, I read a bunch of stuff out of this book a long time ago, and really liked it. Brion Gysin was a nice fit for collaboration with Burroughs, worked with him on doing cut-up literature, experimental movies (that heavily influenced Nicholas Roeg and ultimately helped create the music video) and helped invent the dream machine. Google how to build one if you're curious. There's a neat essay in here on the man that 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' was based on, some short stories, some cut-ups, etc... worth reading if you're into experimental lit.
September 4, 2019
It does what a reader does - presents the best work of the author alongside some of what might be considered some real stinkers.
Given the work he did with Burroughs, I would recommend anyone to read Gysin before Burroughs. A better writer, a better creator. Gysin's inventiveness shines might more brightly than Burroughs' does, but what Gysin did went beyond literature, which isn't contained in this book.
Given the work he did with Burroughs, I would recommend anyone to read Gysin before Burroughs. A better writer, a better creator. Gysin's inventiveness shines might more brightly than Burroughs' does, but what Gysin did went beyond literature, which isn't contained in this book.
June 20, 2021
About 40% is worthwhile, the rest is only vaguely passable. Anyone on here saying Gysin is a more appealing writer than Burroughs can not be serious.
February 17, 2009
"If you want to get IN instead of OUT then SPACE is not for you"
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews