But even for the well-read Kerouac fan, this is a nice, concise collection to own for such Kerouac-friendly occasions as long roadtrips and camping. The Portable follows his life and career chronologically, which stays true to Kerouac’s own Proustian ideas for his bio-fictional catalogue.Īnn Charters edited this, so I know it is a great intro to, as well as summary of, Kerouac's work and its enduring impact on American letters over the past sixty years. On the Road : Kerouac, Jack: : Books Books Literature & Fiction History & Criticism Buy new: 17.70 RRP: 22.99 Save: 5.29 (23) FREE delivery on first order. From what I scanned of the selections of his published works, nearly all the best stuff seems to be in there as well. The selection of rare and/or posthumous works is also really good. Jack Kerouacs Great American Novel, now in a delightful new Clothbound Classics edition. The Portable does all the 'dirty work' for us and includes only the most historically significant letters, or at least the most enjoyable reads for Kerouac fans. I flipped through the two volume collection of his letters in a used bookstore once and I just couldn't see how even a serious Kerouac fan would devote so much time to reading through all the riff raff of his casual communications to get to the meat of it all.

Photo by USGov (National Archives) Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Among his many novels are On the Road, The Dharma Bums, Big Sur, and Visions of Cody. I mostly bought this because it includes a nice selection of his letters. Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), the central figure of the Beat Generation, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1922 and died in St. To be honest, I had already read about 80% of what is in this selection, as I was a big Kerouac fan in my teens and early 20s (and still am, really) and devoured all I could find of his.

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