Talk:George Mandel

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The bare biographical details here were taken from the justjacket of his 1962 novel The Wax Boom. I haven't been able to find any better information, despite the fact that his first novel was widely reviewed (e.g. [1]) and he was one of the authors in the influential Protest anthology. One of those writers who seemed to just vanish. I read somewhere that he was a friend of Joseph Heller, but I'll only add that if I can find a cite. KD Tries Again 18:28, 25 July 2007 (UTC)KD

You are right about Heller: He mentions friendship and some other info in his book Now And Then. It is interesting how a person can sort of disappear -- he is not the only one by a longshot and some have been quite famous at one time. (Try finding out what became of Al Capone's son, for example.)--Jrm2007 12:39, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Come to think of it, Heller's book was written in 1998 and he does not mention Mandel's death. Mandel also wrote a book 1985 and he looks okay in jacket photo. Mandel may still be alive.--Jrm2007 22:18, 26 October 2007 (UTC) He is uindeed, writing his masterwork The Agnostic Imperative, and enhancing his original art form, Humble Tech. Ask mikgeo1@yahoo.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.202.40.205 (talk) 01:52, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

How can this be the first beat novel when the guy had no affiliation with the core beat members? In addition, Jack Kerouac wrote The Town and the City before this novel. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.197.145.253 (talk) 17:14, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Regarding Kerouac's 1950 novel "Town and the City," Kerouac's first novel is not considered a Beat novel. The novel was written by Kerouac in the style of Thomas Wolfe. In 1950, The Beat literary movement had not yet even begun.

Beat scholars argue that the first Beat novel was either "Who Walk in Darkness" by Chandler Brossard (1952) or "Go" by John Clellon Holmes (1952). Mandel's novel is certainly not a contender for "first Beat novel." His cartoon book, "Beatsville" is hilarious - here again not a portrayal of the Beat Generation literary movement but a collection of cartoons about the Beatnik craze, the result of media's influence on the youth of the 1950s i.e. television's Maynard G. Krebbs and Ted Jones' Rent-A-Beatnik gimmick for house parties in NYC. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.118.169.193 (talk) 05:47, 18 August 2011 (UTC)