Jack Kerouac: An Illustrated Biography - Hardcover

David Sandison

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1422351033 ISBN 13: 9781422351031

Publisher: Chicago Review Press, 1999

Synopsis

"A visual record of the life and times of one of America's greatest writers. Featuring a foreword by Carolyn Cassady, Kerouac's lover, wife of Neal Cassady, and one of the key figures in his life, this authoritative biography presents perhaps the most judicious look at this tragic genius ever published."--BOOK JACKET.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

YA-Kerouac's frenzied but futile search for meaning-or at least sensation-is documented in near-voyeuristic detail in this disturbing biography. It opens with a brief history of the writer's hometown, Lowell, MA, and his working-class family. YAs follow him to prep school and then Columbia University, where he played football, took up writing, and explored the seamy side of New York before dropping out. Readers meet the many women he loved or at least made love to, including, eventually, the wife of his best friend, Neal Cassady. (She provides the book's foreword.) They learn about the chaotic, uneven creation of his literary style and works, but little about what they say. They watch as his reckless, drug-fueled trips on various roads (literal and metaphorical) become less and less purposeful. Fans of Kerouac who have seen him as a champion of freedom and spontaneity are likely to be sobered and disillusioned by this unsparing look at a talented man whose life was a rush to nowhere. Ironically, the book is beautifully produced, with full-page color reproductions of Kerouac book jackets, interesting black-and-white photographs of varying quality, and outstanding layout and graphics.
Jan Tarasovic, West Springfield High School, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1422351033
• ISBN 13: 9781422351031
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 157