Beat Generation - Hardcover

Kerouac, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1560257423 ISBN 13: 9781560257424

Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2005

Synopsis

Beat Generation is a play about tension, about friendship, and about karma—what it is and how you get it. It begins one fine morning with a few friends, honest laborers some of them, some close to being down-and-out, passing around a bottle of wine. It ends with a kind of satori-like reaffirmation of the power of friendship, of doing good through not doing, and the intrinsic worth of the throwaway little exchanges that make up our lives.

Written in 1957, the same year that On the Road was first published, and set in 1953, Beat Generation portrays an authentic and alternate 1950s America. Kerouac's characters are working-class men and women—a step away from vagrants, but not a big step. Their dialogue positively sings, suggesting jazz riffs in their rhythm and content, and Kerouac, like a master composer, arranges it to magical effect. Here is the heart and soul of the beat mentality, the zeitgeist that blossomed over the decades and eventually culminated in the counter-culture of 1960s America. It's a spirit that still lives.

About this title

About the Author:

Jack Kerouac is one of America's most beloved and widely read authors. His ON THE ROAD helped shape what our country is today. As each new generation of Americans comes of age, his fan base expands.

Review:

"[I]t bears traces of a deeper vision, defined by beatitude and despair...this is what continues to give Kerouac resonance." -- Los Angeles Times, October 26, 2005

About this edition

• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1560257423
• ISBN 13: 9781560257424
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112