Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, where, he said, he 'roamed fields and riverbanks by day and night, wrote little novels in my room, first novel written at age eleven, also kept extensive diaries and "newspapers" covering my own-invented horse-racing and baseball and football worlds' (as recorded in the novel Doctor Sax). He was educated by Jesuit brothers in Lowell. He said that he 'decided to become a writer at age seventeen under influence of Sebastian Sampas, local young poet, who later died on Anzio beach head; read the life of Jack London at eighteen and decided to also be a lonesome traveler; early literary influences Saroyan and Hemingway; later Wolfe (after I had broken leg in Freshman football at Columbia read Tom Wolfe and roamed his New York on crutches).'

Kerouac wished, however, to develop his own new prose style, which he called 'spontaneous prose.' He used this technique to record the life of the American 'traveler' and the experiences of the Beat generation of the 1950s. This may clearly be seen in his most famous novel On the Road, and also in The Subterraneans and The Dharma Bums. His first more orthodox published novel was The Town and the City. Jack Kerouac, who described himself as a 'strange solitary crazy Catholic mystic,' was working on his longest novel, a surrealistic study of the last ten years of his life when he died in 1969, aged forty-seven.

Other works by Jack Kerouac include Big Sur, Desolation Angels, Lonesome Traveler, Visions of Gerard, Tristessa, and a book of poetry called Mexico City Blues. On the Road: The Original Scroll, the full uncensored transcription of the original manuscript of On the Road, is published by Penguin Modern Classics.

What writing style and themes is Jack Kerouac known for?

Kerouac is known for his

Which book is best to start with for a first-time reader?

On the Road is his most famous and representative work and is a good place to start. Other accessible introductions are The Dharma Bums or Big Sur, depending on whether you want travel, spirituality, or later-period reflection.

Are Kerouac's books part of a series or meant to be read in order?

There is no strict reading order. Many works are loosely connected and autobiographical within the Duluoz cycle, but most novels and collections stand alone and can be read independently.

Did Kerouac write in forms other than novels?

Yes. He produced poetry (for example Mexico City Blues), journals and diaries, short fiction, and nonfiction collections such as Lonesome Traveler.

What is On the Road: The Original Scroll?

On the Road: The Original Scroll is the full uncensored transcription of Kerouac's original manuscript, presenting the unedited text of his best-known novel.