THE DAILY BEAT: Slumdog Millionaire and Jack Kerouac

Monday, January 19, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire and Jack Kerouac

There really is something about Slumdog Millionaire in this post, but mostly it's a few odds and ends thrown together.

1. In my January 6 and January 11 posts I discussed the Hemingway archives at Finca Vigia which have recently become available. I wondered if Kerouac and Hemingway had ever conversed by letter and whether those archives might shed some light on that subject.

I wrote to the museum, and learned from the director, Ada Rosa Alfonso, that one would need to travel to Cuba to access the archives. Since then, she has written me back and told me that they searched the archives and found no references to Kerouac. How nice! I had no idea they were going to do that. Mystery solved.

2. December's free book winner, Ronid from India, posted the following on January 16:

Hi Rick!
I have received your beautiful book, the Beat handbook. I have been planning to make a short film on Beat Generation in India and your book will help me immensely. I'm still reading it and enjoying every word!

thank you; first, for writing this book and second, for giving me one.
lets keep the "beat" kicking! dig the ride

I'm hoping his film makes it as big as Slumdog Millionaire and the film credits mention The Beat Handbook! Hey - I can dream, can't I? You go, Ronid!

P.S. It's way gratifying to me to think that there is a copy of my book in India. It truly is a small world.

3. That same day, Jonny Darko suggested this article about On The Road in Kotori Magazine. Check it out!

4. Here's a blog where someone posted a February 28, 1974 interview with David Bowie and William Burroughs - interviewed together!

5. Sold another book on Amazon January 17. That makes 25 total. Not setting the world on fire, but it's something. Here's a breakdown of sales by month:

September = 8
October = 6
November = 3
December = 2
January = 6

Don't know what happened to the trend (but I'm glad it happened or January would likely have been a big fat ZERO). That's one thing that's difficult to figure out - why sales happen. Was there a stimulus in January? A specific blog post on The Daily Beat?

Yes, I've sold a few in person, too, but that's between me and the IRS.

Cash is a beautiful thing.

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Reviews of The Beat Handbook

Gerald Nicosia, author of the acclaimed Kerouac biography Memory Babe, said The Beat Handbook is "full of Jack's heart."

Jared Randall, author of the excellent book of poetry, Apocryphal Road Code, said this about The Beat Handbook: "Sometimes a book comes along at just the right time. In my wandering pack of experiences, I find they often do. Enter The Beat Handbook by Rick Dale."

Kenneth Morris, Kerouacian extraordinaire, said this:
"I just finished reading Rick Dale's beautiful utterance and call to action of Kerouac mind-set and zen sensibilities. It made me laugh and reflect on my own life and road I have naturally grooved into after absorbing the Kerouac canon. The road less traveled always had my name on it. And that has made all the difference. The Beat Handbook 100 Days of Kerouactions reaffirms the attitudes and ideology that made the Beats and Kerouac the important men of ideas that America (and the world) thirsted for, needed, and swallowed whole. Beautiful, absorbing, Top Ten whipsmart from my articulate, tender-hearted friend and fellow traveler. Highly recommended."