Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In On the Road and other iconic works, Jack Kerouaccreated a quintessentially American voice and a revolutionaryprose style. This remarkable gathering ofpreviously unpublished writings reveals as neverbefore the extraordinary literary journey that led to hisphenomenal success a journey with deep roots inthe language and culture of Kerouac s French Canadianchildhood.
Edited and published with unprecedented access tothe Kerouac archives, The Unknown Kerouac presentstwo lost novels, The Night Is My Woman and Old Bullin the Bowery, which Kerouac wrote in French duringthe especially fruitful years of 1951 and 1952. Discoveredamong his papers in the mid-nineties, they havebeen translated into English for the first time by Jean-Christophe Cloutier, who incorporates Kerouac sown partial translations.
Also included are two journals from the heart of thissame crucial period. In Private Philologies, Riddles, and a Ten-Day Writing Log, Kerouac recounts a briefstay in Denver where he works on an early version ofOn the Road, reads dime novels, and even rides in arodeo and shows him contemplating writers likeChaucer and Joyce and playing with riddles andetymologies. Journal 1951, begun during a stay in aBronx VA hospital, charts, in ecstatic, moving, andself-revealing pages, the wave of insights and breakthroughsthat led Kerouac to the most singular transformationof American prose style since Hemingway.
This landmark volume is rounded out with thememoir Memory Babe, a poignant evocation of childhoodplay and reverie in a robust immigrant community, in which Kerouac uncannily retrieves and distillsthe subtlest sense impressions. And finally, in an interviewwith his longtime friend and fellow Beat JohnClellon Holmes and in the late fragment Beat SpotlightKerouac reflects on his meteoric career and unlookedfor celebrity."
Synopsis
A remarkable gathering of previously unpublished writings which reveals the extraordinary literary journey that led to Kerouac's success--a journey with deep roots in the language and culture of his French Canadian childhood Edited and published with unprecedented access to the Kerouac archives, The Unknown Kerouac presents two lost novels, The Night Is My Woman and Old Bull in the Bowery, which Kerouac wrote in French during the especially fruitful years of 1951 and 1952. Discovered among his papers in the mid-nineties, they have been translated into English for the first time by Jean-Christophe Cloutier, who incorporates Kerouac's own partial translations.
Also included are two journals from the heart of this same crucial period. In Private Philologies, Riddles, and a Ten-Day Writing Log, Kerouac recounts a brief stay in Denver--where he works on an early version of On the Road, reads dime novels, and even rides in a rodeo--and shows him contemplating writers like Chaucer and Joyce and playing with riddles and etymologies. Journal 1951, begun during a stay in a Bronx VA hospital, charts, in ecstatic, moving, and self-revealing pages, the wave of insights and breakthroughs that led Kerouac to the most singular transformation of American prose style since Hemingway.
This landmark volume is rounded out with the memoir Memory Babe, a poignant evocation of childhood play and reverie in a robust immigrant community, in which Kerouac uncannily retrieves and distills the subtlest sense impressions. And finally, in an interview with his longtime friend and fellow Beat John Clellon Holmes and in the late fragment Beat Spotlight Kerouac reflects on his meteoric career and unlooked for celebrity.
LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
Synopsis
This remarkable gathering of previously unpublished writings shines new light on the
On the Road author
's life, from his French Canadian childhood to his
meteoric rise to literary fame Edited and published with unprecedented access to the Kerouac archives, The Unknown Kerouac presents two lost novels, The Night Is My Woman and Old Bull in the Bowery, which Kerouac wrote in French during the especially fruitful years of 1951 and 1952. Discovered among his papers in the mid-nineties, they have been translated into English for the first time by Jean-Christophe Cloutier, who incorporates Kerouac's own partial translations.
Also included are two journals from the heart of this same crucial period. In Private Philologies, Riddles, and a Ten-Day Writing Log, Kerouac recounts a brief stay in Denver--where he works on an early version of On the Road, reads dime novels, and even rides in a rodeo--and shows him contemplating writers like Chaucer and Joyce and playing with riddles and etymologies. Journal 1951, begun during a stay in a Bronx VA hospital, charts, in ecstatic, moving, and self-revealing pages, the wave of insights and breakthroughs that led Kerouac to the most singular transformation of American prose style since Hemingway.
This landmark volume is rounded out with the memoir Memory Babe, a poignant evocation of childhood play and reverie in a robust immigrant community, in which Kerouac uncannily retrieves and distills the subtlest sense impressions. And finally, in an interview with his longtime friend and fellow Beat John Clellon Holmes and in the late fragment Beat Spotlight Kerouac reflects on his meteoric career and unlooked for celebrity.
LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.