Maison d'Ętre Beatnik Coffeehouse
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac [1922-1969]
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profile major works other works links on page two:
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Jack Kerouac was born 'Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac' on 12 March 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts, of French-Canadian parents. He learned first to speak a French dialect, not learning English until the age of 6. The death of his beloved older brother Gerard in July 1926 affected Jack's whole life. He married his first wife, Edie, in August 1944; the marriage was annulled in 1946. He married second wife Joan Haverty in 1951, producing one child, Janet Michelle, and a quick divorce. Childhood sweetheart Stella Sampas waited 20 years in Lowell for Jack to return to her; they married in November 1966.
Jack won a football scholarship to Columbia University, where he first met Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, and William S. Burroughs. He dropped out after a year and joined the Merchant Marine, then the U.S. Navy during WWII, receiving an honorable discharge, for 'indifference'.
Jack often credited Jack London's "The Road" [1907] with inspiring him to become a writer. Jack made a deal to teach Neal how to write, in exchange for Neal teaching Jack how to drive; various trips across America followed, though Jack usually let others drive the car. Jack met John Clellon Holmes in 1948 and they began discussions that defined the Beat aesthetic. Jack began to write "On The Road".
In 1949, Jack and Neal met in North Carolina and drove a 1949 Hudson to New York, then to New Orleans to visit Burroughs, and finally to California. Ginsberg helped Jack get his first novel published, "The Town & the City" (1950). Jack and Neal traveled to Mexico. The 'paper scroll' version of "On The Road" was written during April 1951 – legend holds that it was done in three weeks time; in November of 1951, Jack discovered the 'spontaneous bop prose' method. Jack stayed with Neal & Carolyn Cassady in San Francisco for much of 1952, then visited Burroughs for a while in Mexico City.
The official beginning of the Beat movement was the night of October 7, 1955, at a poetry reading in San Francisco featuring Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Philip Lamantia, Kenneth Rexroth, Philip Whalen, and Allen Ginsberg. Jack was present, and heard Ginsberg's epic "Howl" recited publicly for the first time. The publication of bestseller "On The Road" in October 1957 propelled Jack into the public spotlight, where he was not comfortable: he was dubbed 'King of the Beats'. Unfortunately his withdrawal took the form of heavy drinking. On a visit with Burroughs in Tangier, Jack named and then typed the manuscript for Burroughs's "Naked Lunch". Jack spent the summer of 1960 at Lawrence Ferlinghetti's cabin in Big Sur, but heavy drinking caused nightmares and paranoia and delirium tremens [see "Big Sur"].
Jack met his daughter Jan for the first time in February 1962. In New York, he was reunited for a time with Neal, together meeting Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters at a party. In worsening shape, Jack moved back and forth between Florida and Long Island with his mother. He visited France [see "Satori In Paris"] and London. Upon his return from Europe, he moved in with his mother again, in Massachusetts. She suffered a stroke in 1966, and Jack married high school sweetheart Stella Sampras, and the three moved together back to Lowell.
Jack continued writing, but the drinking grew worse. In 1968, Jack and his mother and his wife moved back to St. Petersburg, where Jack died 21 October 1969 of 'an abdominal hemorrhage due to alcoholism'; he was buried in Lowell, with 'He Honored Life' on his tombstone. His mother Gabrielle died in 1973; his daughter Jan died in June 1996.
The major novels of Jack Kerouac include "On The Road", "The Dharma Bums", "The Subterraneans", and "Big Sur". Several new works were published posthumously, some as late as 1997 & 2000. Jack's nephew & legatee Jim Sampras discovered and had published several new works, including the "Kicks Joy Darkness" tribute album and the "Dr. Sax" radio play.
Jack Kerouac's importance in XXth Century literature is undisputed.
Official Jack Kerouac Website
Jack Kerouac entry at Wikipedia
browse Jack Kerouac books category at Amazon
Jack Kerouac posters category at AllPosters.com
Major Works
Wikipedia's Jack Kerouac bibliography
 | "Jack Kerouac: Road Novels, 1957-1960" [2007] Edited by Douglas G. Brinkley Library of America 8¼x5¼ hardcover [9/2007] $29.90 includes "On the Road" [1957], "The Subterraneans" [1958], "The Dharma Bums" [1958], "Tristessa" [1960] & "Lonesome Traveler" [1960], plus journal selections | |
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"The Unknown Kerouac (LoA #283): Rare, Unpublished & Newly-Translated Writings" [2016] Edited by Todd Tietchen, Translated by Jean-Christophe Cloutier includes two lost novels, "The Night Is My Woman" and "Old Bull In The Bowery"; two journals from the heart of this same crucial period: "Private Philologies, Riddles, and A Ten-Day Writing Log" recounting a brief stay in Denver and "Journal 1951"; the memoir "Memory Babe"; an interview with his longtime friend and fellow Beat John Clellon Holmes; and the late fragment "Beat Spotlight" Kindle Edition from Library of America [10/2016] for $16.99 Library of America 8¼x5¼ hardcover [9/2016] for $25.56 |
"On The Road" [October 1957]
listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels (10/2005)
book entry at Wikipedia
celebrating 50th anniversary of 'On The Road' in Paris, France [Sept 2007]
Jack Kerouac Reads from 'On The Road' (1959 Steve Allen Show) [5:44] on YouTube
Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" feature film
[American Zoetrope/United Artists 2012?]
 | Francis Ford Coppola bought the movie rights to Kerouac's classic novel in 1979 Filmed during Summer 2010 in Argentina, Arizona, California, Canada, Louisiana & Mexico; directed by Walter Salles; starring Sam Riley as Sal Paradise {Kerouac}, Garrett Hedlund as Dean Moriarty {Neal Cassady}, Viggo Mortensen as Old Bull Lee {Wm. S. Burroughs}, Amy Adams as Jane (Burroughs' wife Joan Vollmer}, and Kristen Stewart as Mary Lou Moriarty DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • watch 1/2013 trailer [1:54] at YouTube |
 | "The Subterraneans" [Feb 1958]
Grove Press 8¼x5½ pb [9/89] for $9.60 June 1960 movie starring George Peppard
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 | "Dharma Bums" [Oct 1958]
Penguin 7¾x5 pb [2/91] for $10.36 Amereon hardcover [6/76] for $21.95 |
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"Big Sur" [Sept 1962]
Penguin 7¾x5 pb [6/92] for $11.20 Blackstone Audio read by Tom Parker
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 | "The Portable Jack Kerouac" [1995] Edited by Ann Charters Penguin 7¾x5 pb [3/96] for $12.76 Viking Penguin hardcover [3/95] out of print/used |
Other Works
"The Sea Is My Brother" [still unpublished first novel of 1943]
24"x36" poster from Amazon out of prodn/rare |
 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 |
Kerouac Links
Official Jack Kerouac Website
Literary Kicks Jack Kerouac Pages
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! (festivals in April & October) { last update 2001 }
another Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! site { last update 2004}
Jack Magazine
Cosmic Baseball Assn's Jack Kerouac Chronology
Online Short Recordings of Jack Kerouac
'Jack Kerouac: Safe In Heaven Drunk'
Kerouac at Famous Poets & Poems website
Dharma Beat website
Kafe Kerouac in Columbus, Ohio
celebrating 50th anniversary of 'On The Road' in Paris, France [Sept 2007]
Maison d'Ętre Philosophy Bookstore's Jack Kerouac [1922-1969] Page
here on Page 1: top of page • profile • major works • other works • links
on Page 2: top of page • poems, letters, journals • works about Jack Kerouac
on Page 3: top of page • works by family & friends • videos • other media
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