Move Under Ground

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Plot Summary

Characters in "Move Under Ground"

• Azathoth
  Azathoth
  
  Azathoth is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. Its epithets include Nuclear Chaos and the Daemon Sultan....
  
• William S. Burroughs
  William S. Burroughs
  
  William Seward Burroughs II was an United States novelist, essayist, social critic, Painting and spoken word performer.Much of Burroughs's work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life....
  
• Neal Cassady
  Neal Cassady
  
  Neal Leon Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s, perhaps best known for being characterized as Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road....
  
• Cthulhu
  Cthulhu
  
  Cthulhu is a cosmic being character created by horror author H. P. Lovecraft in 1926, first appearing in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu" when it was published in Weird Tales in 1928....
  
• Allen Ginsberg
  Allen Ginsberg
  
  Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an United States poet. Ginsberg is best known for the poem "Howl" , celebrating his friends who were members of the Beat Generation and attacking what he saw as the destructive forces of materialism and conformity in the United States....
  
• Jack Kerouac
  Jack Kerouac
  
  Jack Kerouac was an American author, poet and Painting. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
  
• Bodhisattva
  Bodhisattva
  
  In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment "....
   Kilaya

Source references

Beat connections

• The novel begins with Kerouac in Big Sur
  Big Sur
  
  Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the central California, United States, coast where the Santa Lucia Range rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean....
  , the setting of his novel of the same name
  Big Sur (novel)
  
  Big Sur is a 1962 novel by Jack Kerouac. It recounts the events surrounding Kerouac's three brief sojourns to a cabin in Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, owned by Kerouac's friend and Beat Generation Lawrence Ferlinghetti....
  , and numerous mentions are made of his "heading out on the road again", a reference to his 1957 On the Road
  On the Road
  
  On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957 in literature. It is a largely Autobiography work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America....
  .
• The slaves of Cthulhu are referred to as "mugwumps
  Mugwump (disambiguation)
  
  Mugwumps were a group of Republican activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884....
  ", from the predatory creatures of Burroughs' Naked Lunch
  Naked Lunch
  
  Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959.The book was originally published with the title The Naked Lunch in Paris in 1959 by Olympia Press....
  .
• When Burroughs appears, he is wielding a pair of pistols and is said to be playing William Tell
  William Tell
  
  William Tell is a legendary hero of disputed historical authenticity who is said to have lived in the Swiss Alps Canton of Uri in Switzerland in the early 14th century....
  , a reference to his alleged killing of Joan Vollmer
  Joan Vollmer
  
  Joan Vollmer Adams aka Joan Vollmer Burroughs was the most prominent female member of the early Beat Generation circle. While a student at Barnard College she became the roommate of Edie Parker and their apartment became a gathering place for the Beats during the 1940s....
   while playing William Tell.
• Burroughs mentions that his book has been unbanned and thanks Kerouac for the title, which references Naked Lunch
  Naked Lunch
  
  Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959.The book was originally published with the title The Naked Lunch in Paris in 1959 by Olympia Press....
  , the title of which
  Naked Lunch
  
  Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959.The book was originally published with the title The Naked Lunch in Paris in 1959 by Olympia Press....
   was suggested by Kerouac.
• Kerouac mentions Dean Moriarty
  Dean Moriarty
  
  Dean Moriarty is one of the protagonists in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. Dean Moriarty is based upon the beat generation hero Neal Cassady....
  , the name of the protagonist of On the Road who was strongly inspired by Neal Cassady, and Jack Duluoz, the name Kerouac gives himself in many of his works.

Cthulhu Mythos connections

• Cthulhu
  Cthulhu
  
  Cthulhu is a cosmic being character created by horror author H. P. Lovecraft in 1926, first appearing in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu" when it was published in Weird Tales in 1928....
   is the central enemy of the book, and the squares
  Square (slang)
  
  Square used as slang may mean many things when referring to a person, or it may refer to a cigarette.The term "square", in referring to a person, originally meant someone who was honest, traditional, and loyal....
   are turned into beings resembling his star-spawn.
• R'lyeh
  R'lyeh
  
  R'lyeh is a fictional city that first appeared in the story, "The Call of Cthulhu," by H. P. Lovecraft. R'lyeh is also referred to in Lovecraft's The Mound as Relex....
   is seen to rise when the stars are right; however, it is located "closer than Communist Cuba" off the California
  California
  
  California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
  n coast, not in its usual location in the South Pacific
  Pacific Ocean
  
  The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
  , however, this may be due to the twisted geometry mentioned below.
• Cassidy mentions the Three-Lobed Burning Eye
  Three-Lobed Burning Eye
  
  The "three-lobed burning eye" is one of many manifestations of Nyarlathotep, a messenger of the Outer Gods, from fiction penned by H. P. Lovecraft....
   and the "Al-Azif
  Necronomicon
  
  The Necronomicon is a fictional book appearing in the stories by horror fiction novelist H. P. Lovecraft. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 in literature short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in Lovecraft's "The Nameless City"....
  " to Kerouac in predicting the coming apocalypse. Kerouac later states that he sent Cthulhu back to "strange aeons," another reference to the Necronomicon.
• The Elder Gods
  Elder God (Cthulhu Mythos)
  
  An Elder God is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft....
   and Great Old One
  Great Old One
  
  A Great Old One is a type of fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos based in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. Though Lovecraft created the most famous of these fictional deities, the vast majority of them were created by other writers, many after Lovecraft's death....
  s are also mentioned.
• Kerouac enters the Dreamlands
  Dreamlands
  
  The Dreamlands is a fictional location in the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. It is also the setting for a number of pastiches written by other authors....
   at one point.
• Numerous references are made to "the Call of Cthulhu
  The Call of Cthulhu
  
  "The Call of Cthulhu" is one of H. P. Lovecraft's best-known short story. Written in the summer of 1926 in literature, it was first published in Weird Tales, February 1928 in literature....
  ."
• Shoggoth
  Shoggoth
  
  A shoggoth is a fictional monster in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being first appeared in H. P. Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness ....
  s appear several times; however, instead of how they are usually depicted in the Mythos, they appear as agents of Cthulhu that assume the shapes, forms, or personal appearances most likely to drive their target mad.
• Kerouac talks about trying to get the government to send the "Sea Hunt
  Sea Hunt
  
  Sea Hunt was an United States television adventure series from syndicator Ziv TV that ran from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in Television syndication for decades afterwards....
   and gut the Elder God," a possible reference to the submarine torpedoing of Y'ha-nthlei at the beginning/end of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth
  The Shadow Over Innsmouth
  
  "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. Written November-December 1931 in literature, the story was first published in April 1936 in literature; this was the only fiction of Lovecraft's published during his lifetime that did not appear in a periodical....
  ."
• As Cthulhu's power rises, America becomes distorted by non-Euclidean geometry
  Non-Euclidean geometry
  
  In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry describes hyperbolic geometry and elliptic geometry, which are contrasted with Euclidean geometry. The essential difference between Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry is the nature of Parallel lines....
  .
• A reference is made to Lovecraft himself; a worker mentions how a serious "gentleman from Providence
  Providence, Rhode Island
  
  Providence is the Capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States....
  " named Mr. Love passed through several weeks earlier, predicting the onslaught and building a lighthouse
  Lighthouse
  
  A lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to Maritime pilot at sea....
   in the desert. He is described as having "eyes so round like a frog's [with a] lipless mouth," characteristics matching the "Innsmouth
  Innsmouth
  
  Innsmouth is a fictional town in the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Lovecraft Country setting of the Cthulhu Mythos.Lovecraft first used the name "Innsmouth" in his 1920 short story "Celepha?s" , where it refers to a fictional town in England....
   Look" of the Deep One
  Deep One
  
  The Deep Ones are fictional creatures in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. The beings first appeared in Lovecraft's short story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" ....
  s.
• Kerouac observes Azathoth
  Azathoth
  
  Azathoth is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. Its epithets include Nuclear Chaos and the Daemon Sultan....
   in the twisted constellations. Cassady later becomes an avatar for Azathoth.
• After Cthulhu comes to power, all money must be stamped with the Elder Sign
  Elder Sign
  
  The Elder Sign is an icon in the Cthulhu Mythos, first mentioned in H. P. Lovecraft's The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, written in 1926....
  ; both Lovecraft's branching symbol and August Derleth's five-pointed flaming star variants are mentioned. This could be a reference to the Mark of the Beast
  Number of the Beast
  
  The Number of the Beast is a concept from the Book of Revelation of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The number is 666 in most manuscripts of the New Testament, and in modern translations and Textual criticism....
   being needed for commerce.
• Chicago
  Chicago
  
  Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
   is described as being formed of "Cyclopean modern towers and pinnacles rising flowerlike and delicate like spun crystal"; this is similar to Lovecraft's description of R'lyeh, Pnakotus, and the City of the Old Ones
  Elder Thing
  
  The Elder Things are fictional Extraterrestrial life in popular culture in the Cthulhu Mythos. The beings first appeared in H. P. Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness ....
  .
• The established religions all begin preaching to Cthulhu rather than the Christian god; they are referred to as "cargo cult
  Cargo cult
  
  A cargo cult may appear in tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically advanced, non-native cultures. The cult is focused on obtaining the material wealth of the advanced culture through magical thinking, religious rituals and practices, believing that the wealth was intended for them by their deity and ancestors....
  s" and Kerouac uses the term "starry wisdom" to describe them. These are references to several Cthulhu Mythos cults, specifically the Church of Starry Wisdom
  Cthulhu Mythos cults
  
  A number of cults appear in the Cthulhu Mythos. Many of these cults serve the Outer God Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, a Proteus deity that appears in a myriad of guises....
   and the Esoteric Order of Dagon
  Esoteric Order of Dagon
  
  The Esoteric Order of Dagon is a fictional cult in the Cthulhu mythos of H. P. Lovecraft....
  .

Awards and nominations

• 2004, Locus Magazine Recommended Reading List for books published in 2004
• 2005, nominated, Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel
  Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel
  
  The Bram Stoker Award for First Novel is an award presented by the Horror_Writers_Association for "superior achievement" in Horror_fiction for an authors first horror novel....
  
• 2005, nominated, International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel in 2005

Release details

• 2004, USA, Night Shade Books
  Night Shade Books
  
  Night Shade Books is an independent publishing company based in San Francisco, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and Horror fiction. It was started in 1998 and is currently run by Jason Williams and Jeremy Lassen....
   ISBN 1892389916, 15 May 2004, Hardcover
• 2004, USA, Night Shade Books
  Night Shade Books
  
  Night Shade Books is an independent publishing company based in San Francisco, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and Horror fiction. It was started in 1998 and is currently run by Jason Williams and Jeremy Lassen....
   ISBN 1892389924, 15 May 2004, Signed Limited Edition Hardcover
• 2005, Germany, ISBN 3937897089, July 2005, Paperback
• 2006, USA, Prime Books
  Prime Books
  
  Prime Books is a publishing specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction novels and short story collections. It was founded as an independent in 2001 by Sean Wallace, but in 2004 it became an imprint of Wildside Press....
   ISBN 0809556731, 26 March 2006, Paperback
• 2007, Creative Commons release (English language), , 6 February 2007, HTML, PDF, zipped HTML.

Limited edition

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