Jack’s Book

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What to expect

The classic and fascinating story of Jack Kerouac, "King of the Beats" and American literary legend, recorded through the voices of his friends and lovers. Authors Barry Gifford and Lawrence Lee retraced Kerouac's life at home and on the road and talked with the prophets, musicians, poets, socialites, and working people who knew him. Some are famous (Allen Ginsberg, Gore Vidal, William Burroughs); some are not (Jack's boyhood buddies, his lovers, his barroom companions). All have contributed to a remarkably vibrant, riveting portrait of a life. We see Jack at Columbia University and on the scene of Greenwich Village; speeding across the tarmac of America with Neal Cassidy ('Dan Moriarty' in Kerouac's classic novel, On the Road); at home with his possessive mother; in California, drinking wine and talking Buddhism; and finally, in Florida, where his life ends tragically at forty-seven years old. Jack's Book, like Kerouac's novels, makes a unique contribution to our understanding of a man and a generation that shaped the dreams and visions of those who followed.

Critics Review

  • “Jack’s Book is first-rate…if offers the flavor and depth of good fiction while keeping well within the realms of literal truth.”

    Saturday Review
  • “Lively…and often compelling.”

    Chicago Tribune
  • “If you’re interested in what the talk of the Fifties sounded like, and if
    you believe that literature may just have something to do with life,
    then read this book.”

    National Review
  • “A fascinating literary and historical document, the most insightful look at the beat generation.”

    Dan Wakefield, American novelist

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