Jack in Fred W. McDarrah’s apartment, Dec. 10, 1959. Copyright: Fred McDarrah/Getty Images
Born Jean-Louis Kerouac, Kerouac is the most famous native son of Lowell, Massachusetts. His parents had immigrated as very young children from the Province of Quebec, Canada, and Kerouac spoke a local French Canadian-American dialect before he spoke English. He was a football star at Lowell High School and upon graduation in 1939 was awarded a scholarship to Columbia University. However, after an injury sidelined him on the football team, Kerouac grew unhappy with Columbia and dropped out of school. During this period in New York City, Kerouac became friends with the poet Allen Ginsberg and the novelist William S. Burroughs, as well as Herbert Huncke and others who would be associated with the “Beat Generation.”
During World War II, he briefly joined the Merchant Marine and the U.S. Navy, and after the war, in 1947, he met Neal Cassady, with whom he would in the late 1940s begin crisscrossing the country by automobile.
Kerouac wrote his first novel, “The Town and the City,” about his struggle to balance the expectations of his family with his unconventional life, which was published in 1950 with Ginsberg’s help. Kerouac took several cross-country trips with Cassady during this time, which became the basis for his most famous work, “On The Road.” The manuscript – presented to his editor on a single, unbroken roll of paper, the scroll that was later exhibited to record crowds in Lowell – was rejected and six years would pass before it was published in 1957. In the years in between, Kerouac followed Ginsberg and Cassady to San Francisco and the term “Beat Generation,” which Kerouac coined, gained popularity. When Kerouac finally broke through with the release of “On The Road,” he was faced with challenges presented by the fame that followed as he tried to live up to the image portrayed in his novels and facing criticism from the literary establishment for being part of what was considered a fad. He would go on to publish additional novels, many of which used settings based on Lowell – including “Doctor Sax,” “The Subterraneans,” “The Dharma Bums” and his final great work, “Big Sur.” He settled in Florida with his wife, Stella Sampas, and his mother, where he died in 1969 at age 47. He was buried in Lowell.
Even after his death, Kerouac’s popularity continues. “On The Road” has remained widely read and a new film adaptation of the novel starring Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Kerouac was named one of the most important figures of the 20th century by LIFE Magazine and The Times of London and interest in Kerouac has grown with the publication of his letters, poetry, spiritual writings, early novels and more from his remarkable literary archive. He has been cited as an influence by countless writers and musicians, including The Doors, Bob Dylan, and Patti Smith.
Bibliography
Major Works of Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Correspondences
1950 The Town and The City
Harcourt Brace
1957 On the Road
Viking
1958 Dharma Bums
Viking
1958 The Subterraneans
Grove Press
1959 Mexico City Blues
Grove Press
1959 Maggie Cassidy
Avon Original
1959 Dr Sax
Grove Press
1959 Visions of Cody
Excerpts
750 Autographed Copies
New Directions Pub.
1960 Tristessa
Avon Books
1960 Lonesome Traveller
McGraw-Hill
1960 Scripture of The Golden Eternity
Corinth Books
1961 Book of Dreams
City Lights
1961 Pull My Daisy
Grove
1962 Big Sur
Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy
1963 Visions of Gerard
Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy
1965 Desolation Angels
Coward-McCann
1966 Satori In Paris
Grove Press
1968 Vanity of Duluoz
Coward-McCann
1971 Scattered Poems
City Lights
1971 Pic
Grove Press
1972 Visions of Cody
McGraw-Hill
1973 Trip Trap
Grey Fox Press
1977 Heaven and Other Poems
Grey Fox Press
1992 Poems All Sizes
City Lights
1993 Good Blonde and Others
Grey Fox Press
1993 ’61, ’64, ’93 Old Angel Midnight
Grey Fox Press
1995 Selected Letters 1940-1956
Viking
1995 Portable Jack Kerouac
Penguin Books
1995 Book of Blues
Penguin Books
1997 Some of The Dharma
Viking
1999 Selected Letters 1957-1969
Viking
1999 Atop an Underwood
Viking
2000 Door Wide Open
Viking
2000 Orpheus Emerged
I Books
2001 Book of Dreams
Complete
City Lights
2003 Book of Haikus
Penguin Books
2004 Departed Angels
Thunder’s Mouth Press
2004 Wind Blown World
Penguin Books
2005 Beat Generation
Thunder’s Mouth Press
2006 Book of Sketches
Penguin Poets
2007 On the Road, The Original Scroll
Viking
2007 Beatific Soul
Scala-NYPLibrary
2008 Wake Up
Viking
2008 On The Road, Ed RuschaLimited Edition
500 copies
Gagosian-Steidl
2008 And the Hippos Were
Boiled In Their Tanks
Grove Press
2009 Kerouac At Bat
NYPLibrary
2009 You’re Genius All The Time:
Belief and Technique for Modern Prose
Chronicle Books
2010 Kerouac Ascending
Cambridge Scholars Pub.
2010 Jack Kerouac/Allan Ginsberg
The Letters
Viking
2012 The Sea is My Brother
DaCapo
2012 Jack Kerouac Collected Poems
Library of America
2014 The Haunted Life
DaCapo
2015 Kerouac: Visions of Cody, Visions of Gerard, and Big Sur
Library of America Compilation
Video Links:
Kerouac interview on the Ben Hecht Show, October 1958
Kerouac on the Beats, 1959
Kerouac and the railroad lantern, 1959
Kerouac on Steve Allen Show, November 1959. Includes readings from Visions of Cody & On the Road
Kerouac reading from “October in the Railroad Earth” (1959) with Steve Allen on piano
Kerouac reading from Doctor Sax and Old Angel Midnight for Lois Sorrells, 1961 (transcript and audio recording)
Precursors of the Hippies – includes interviews with Kerouac & Ferlinghetti, December 1964
Kerouac interview by Fernanda Pivano, Italy, 1966
Kerouac shooting pool – Lowell – 1967
Kerouac on the William Buckley Show, with Ed Sanders & others, September 1968
Kerouac interview with Fernand Seguin – 5 min extract with English subtitles
The Jack Kerouac Symposium at Salem State College, Mass., April 1973
Movie Documentaries Links:
Pull My Daisy (1959) – Robert Frank’s movie of Jack’s play, narrated by Kerouac
Kerouac, the Movie (aka Jack Kerouac’s America, aka Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats) (1984). Dir. John Antonelli
What Happened to Kerouac? (1986). Dir. Richard Lerner
Le Grand Jack (French-Canadian documentary) (1987). Dir. Herménégilde Chiasson
Kerouac: On the Road to Desolation (1997). Dir. David Stewart
The Source: The story of the Beat Generation (1999). Dir. Chuck Workman Pt 1; Pt 2; Pt 3; Pt 4; Pt 5; Pt 6; Pt 7
Lowell Blues – The Words of Jack Kerouac (2000). Dir. Henri Ferrini
Kerouac – Other Resources:
The Kerouac Companion (character keys and family trees)
Gallery of On the Road covers from around the world
Gallery of Visions of Cody covers
More Kerouac book covers
List of recordings relating to Kerouac and Cassady
Kerouac Corner – An occasional column about Jack’s life and writings
Kerouac & The Outsider – A Puzzle
An interview with Kerouac’s friend, Henri Cru
An interview with Kerouac’s old buddy, Seymour Wyse
The Breton Traveller: Kerouac’s Search for his Roots
Published Interview Links:
Al Aronowitz interview – New York Post, March 1959
Paris Review interview – with Ted Berrigan & others, June 1967