Marcus Boon teaches 20th and 21st century literature and cultural theory in the English Department, and is also cross-appointed to the programs/departments of Social and Political Thought, Visual Arts and Humanities. His research interests include contemporary literature; cultural and critical theory; drug cultures and writing; contemporary music, sound and vibration; the internet, AI and digital writing practices; the Beats, Buddhism and countercultural histories.
He is the author of The Road of Excess: A History of Writers on Drugs (Harvard UP, 2002), In Praise of Copying (Harvard UP, 2010) and The Politics of Vibration (Duke UP, 2022). He is the co-author, with Timothy Morton and Eric Cazdyn of Nothing: Three Inquiries in Buddhism (University of Chicago, 2015). He is the co-editor, with Gabriel Levine, of Practice (MIT/Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art series, 2018), and co-editor, with Davis Schneiderman, of The Book of Methods: Writings on the Cut Up by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin (U. Minnesota Press, forthcoming). He also edited America! A Prophecy: The Sparrow Reader (Soft Skull, 2006) and Subduing Demons in America: The Selected Poems of John Giorno (Soft Skull, 2008). He wrote the introduction to Walter Benjamin's On Hashish (Harvard UP, 2006). He is currently working on a book entitled On Practice: Aesthetics After Art. He writes about sound cultures for The Wire, Boing Boing and others. His website is www.marcusboon.com.

Current Research Projects

Current Courses

Marcus Boon teaches 20th and 21st century literature and cultural theory in the English Department, and is also cross-appointed to the programs/departments of Social and Political Thought, Visual Arts and Humanities. His research interests include contemporary literature; cultural and critical theory; drug cultures and writing; contemporary music, sound and vibration; the internet, AI and digital writing practices; the Beats, Buddhism and countercultural histories.
He is the author of The Road of Excess: A History of Writers on Drugs (Harvard UP, 2002), In Praise of Copying (Harvard UP, 2010) and The Politics of Vibration (Duke UP, 2022). He is the co-author, with Timothy Morton and Eric Cazdyn of Nothing: Three Inquiries in Buddhism (University of Chicago, 2015). He is the co-editor, with Gabriel Levine, of Practice (MIT/Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art series, 2018), and co-editor, with Davis Schneiderman, of The Book of Methods: Writings on the Cut Up by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin (U. Minnesota Press, forthcoming). He also edited America! A Prophecy: The Sparrow Reader (Soft Skull, 2006) and Subduing Demons in America: The Selected Poems of John Giorno (Soft Skull, 2008). He wrote the introduction to Walter Benjamin's On Hashish (Harvard UP, 2006). He is currently working on a book entitled On Practice: Aesthetics After Art. He writes about sound cultures for The Wire, Boing Boing and others. His website is www.marcusboon.com.

Degrees

Appointments

Current Courses