Roads to the Red Night

“Roads to the Red Night” is the story of Beckett, a jazz singer and sex worker surviving in the North African fictional city of Khandra under European colonialism. Set in the 1950s, the novel is inspired by the writings of the beat generation, a group of mostly gay authors that revolutionized American literature back in the 50s and 60s, particularly the works of William S. Burroughs, who spent years of his life in Tangiers. Like him, Beckett is a junkie, hooked on a terrible drug called Moloch. The mechanics are simple: the protagonist can use the drug for short term benefits in his rolls, but the long term consequences of its use can bring problems in the future. Beckett is a messed up…