Jack's Book: An Oral Biography of Jack Kerouac

By Lawrence Lee and Barry Gifford

Book Overview

"A fascinating literary and historical document, the most insightful look at the Beat Generation." --Dan Wakefield, author of New York in the Fifties and Going All the Way First published in 1978, Jack's Book gives us an intimate look into the life and times of the "King of the Beats." Through the words of the close friends, lovers, artists, and drinking buddies who survived him, writers Barry Gifford and Lawrence Lee recount Jack Kerouac's story, from his childhood in Lowell, Massachusetts, to his tragic end in Florida at the age of forty-seven. Including anecdotes from an eclectic list of well-known figures such as Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Gore Vidal, as well as Kerouac's ordinary acquaintances, this groundbreaking oral biography--the first of its kind--presents us with a remarkably insightful portrait of an American legend and the spirit of a generation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 014312188X
• ISBN13: 9780143121886
• Release Date: April 2012
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Essential to understanding Jack

I love oral histories, and I Kerouac's alright. Its neat that the people responsible for this book collected and intereviewed some of Jack's friends from before he became famous. I was also unaware of his firt's marriages annulment and his involvment in hiding a body. There's a lot of great snippets... but there's also a lot of boring windbags blowing in this book too. Still, its worth every penny.

Beat a path to this book

Chock to bursting with recollections from Kerouac's intimates, this page-turner will be read in two or three sittings. These recollections are interspersed among the authors' own discoveries and conclusions. Not as exhaustive as "Memory Babe," this book is more for the person just getting into Kerouac's work and life. In the back of this book are lists of what has become of these acquaintances of Kerouac's and what their aliases were in his books, information which will become dearer to you as you delve deeper into Jack's Duluoz Legend. All in all, one terrific book worth anyone's time and money.