2 new items for my Kerouac bookshelf

I probably won't curate these because they weren't on my Kerouac bookshelf when I started my curation project, but I thought I'd mention these two new acquisitions.

First is this December 1965 Escapade magazine with a Last Word column by Jack Kerouac on bullfighting (it appears in Chapter 2 of Lonesome Traveler) that I read about in Jim Christy's The Long Slow Death of Jack Kerouac (curated here). I won't lie - the eye candy from 1965 beats anything going today. Sorry for the picture quality -- I am leaving it in its protective plastic sleeve as much as possible. $10.99 on eBay.

Second is this copy of Robert Lowry's The Big Cage, which I also read about in Jim Christy's Kerouac bio. $10.50 on eBay. It's queued up in my reading list....

Curation #129 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Beatitude by Larry Closs

Item #129 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2011 Rebel Satori Press (no printing number) edition of Beatitude by Larry Closs. 264 pages, it measures about 5-1/2" x 8-1/4" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that the author sent me this as a review copy.

I reviewed Beatitude here on December 22, 2011. In that review, I said:

I liked this novel a lot, and for a couple of reasons. First, it is well-written. Closs demonstrates a clear command of narration, dialogue, and detail. As a result, the story is both believable and engaging. Second, Closs skillfully weaves together a modern love story with a Beat Generation subplot, and it works. Along the way, we learn some things about human nature as well.

Check out my review for more details about the content and you will see why this book sits on my Kerouac bookshelf.







Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (23rd from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of On the Road (They're Not What You Think) by John Leland.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #128 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Conversations with Jack Kerouac edited by Kevin J. Hayes

Item #128 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2005 University Press of Mississippi 1st printing of Conversations with Jack Kerouac edited by Kevin J. Hayes. 100 pages, it measures about 5-7/8" x 8-1/2" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that I bought it in a Flagstaff, AZ used bookstore in 2013.

I basically reviewed this book here on The Daily Beat on July 26, 2013. Click here to read that review. The back cover indicates that this is part of a "Literary Conversations Series." I see that editor Hayes now appears in Google search as an Emeritus Professor at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Small in size but not necessarily in scope, this collection of 10 short pieces belongs on your Kerouac bookshelf.








Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (22nd from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Beatitude by Larry Closs.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #127 from my Kerouac bookshelf: The Poetry Deal by Diane di Prima

Item #127 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2014 City Lights (no printing number) edition of The Poetry Deal by Diane di Prima. 109 pages, it measures about 5" x 7" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that it was sent to me by the publisher for review.

The City Lights blurb for this book is that it is "the first full-length volume of new poetry in decades from legendary feminist Beat poet, Diane di Prima." I reviewed this book on March 8, 2015, in which I said:

You owe it to yourself to get a copy of The Poetry Deal from City Lights. This is the kind of poetry book that one comes back to over time, gleaning new insights and making fresh connections. The poems are real, they are significant, and they are well-crafted: as one would expect from the Poet Laureate of San Francisco.

You can read my full review here (along with a mini-review of Memoirs of a Beatnik, which I curated yesterday).

You can purchase The Poetry Deal directly from City Lights by clicking here (plus read review blurbs and excerpts).



Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (21st from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Conversations with Jack Kerouac edited by Kevin J. Hayes.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #126 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Memoirs of a Beatnik by Diane di Prima

Item #126 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 1998 Penguin Books 6th printing of Memoirs of a Beatnik by Diane di Prima. 194 pages, it measures about 5" x 7-3/4" and is in good condition. The provenance is likely that I acquired it via Amazon. You're welcome, Mr. Bezos.

Memoirs of a Beatnik was first published in 1969, more than a decade after the times it was written about. Diane di Prima, while an A-lister among female Beat writers, admitted that this book was written to pay the bills, and so it is full of graphic sex at the request of the editor (and, of course, the title uses the media-driven term that real Beats eschewed). The book starts with a rousing morning sex scene in the West Village. I really wanted to quote the section on p. 9, but I'm afraid I'd get in trouble  with Blogger because of the explicit language.

The book is fiction based on actual experiences, so the group sex scene with Kerouac and Ginsberg may or may not have happened at all or like it is described. I will leave feminist critiques to others, but I found Memoirs of a Beatnik very interesting as well as titillating (yes, it made me horny). My memory is that I read it on one sitting.

If you want everything written by or about Jack Kerouac on your Kerouac bookshelf, this book is essential. If you're looking for a steamy first-person semi-autobiographical Beat novel, this fits the bill. If you're looking for good examples of the works of female Beat writers, this shouldn't be your first choice.







Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (20th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: The Poetry Deal by Diane di Prima.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #125 from my Kerouac bookshelf: You'll Be Okay: My Life with Jack Kerouac by Edie Kerouac-Parker

Item #125 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2007 City Lights (no printing number) edition of You'll Be Okay: My Life with Jack Kerouac by Edie Kerouac-Parker. 286 pages, it measures about 5-1/8" x 8" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that it was a 2013 Christmas gift from Crystal (I know that from the inscription on the title page).

Through mutual friend Henri Cru, 18-year-old Edie Parker met Jack Kerouac when he was at Columbia in 1940. They married in a deal to get money from her parents to bail Jack out of jail for his involvement in the 1944 Lucien Carr murder of David Kammerer. Needless to say, their marriage didn't last long. This memoir details their time together and features 29 black-and-white pictures. It includes an intro and an afterword by her companion Timothy Moran, a preface by Bill Morgan, and a foreword by the author.

There are a number of Kerouac memoirs written by his intimates, and each one provides unique perspectives on Jack's life. Regarding this one, William [S.] Burroughs said (back cover blurb):

You have a unique viewpoint from which to write about Jack as no one else has or could write. I feel very deeply that this book must be written. And no one else, I repeat, can write it.

You can read review blurbs about this book at the City Lights website here (as well as purchase the book). While I must confess that I can't remember if I read this book -- I think I did -- it is safe to say that it needs to be on any comprehensive Kerouac bookshelf.







Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (19th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Memoirs of a Beatnik by Diane di Prima.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #124 from my Kerouac bookshelf: The Awakener: A Memoir of Kerouac and the Fifties by Helen Weaver

Item #124 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2009 City Lights Books 1st printing of Helen Weaver's The Awakener: A Memoir of Kerouac and the Fifties. 260 pages, it measures about 5-1/2" x 8-3/8" and is in very good condition. The book's provenance -- which you can read about here along with my review -- is that it was sent to me by the publisher as a review copy.

To see my review of this book from November 11, 2009, click the link in the last sentence. To read an interview I conducted with author Helen Weaver, click here. Helen Weaver, an accomplished author and translator, knew Kerouac -- intimately -- and this memoir is a must-read for Kerouac and Beat Generation fans.

As I said in my review:

I am absolutely convinced that anyone with an interest in the beat generation or even the 50s and 60s in general will fall in love with The Awakener, and with Helen Weaver.

This book definitely deserves a spot on your Kerouac bookshelf.


To order The Awakener directly from the publisher, click here.



Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (18th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: You'll Be Okay: My Life with Jack Kerouac by Edie Kerouac-Parker.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #123 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac by David Amram

Item #123 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2008 Paradigm Publishers edition of Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac by David Amram. The printing number line is mysterious: 12 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5. Usually, the numbers run sequentially higher from outside in, but in this case the lowest outside number is 5 yet there are 4 lower numbers in the line. If you can interpret this, let me know in a comment.

335 pages, this book measures about 6" x 9" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that I met David Amram at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! in 2009 and we traded books (mine is available at that  link over there on the right and David's is available at the link below). You can read about our encounter here. Below is a picture of David's signature and inscription on the book's title page.

If you can decipher the word about Offbeat, let me know in a comment.

David Amram's Kerouac bona fides hardly need to be repeated here on The Daily Beat. Suffice to say that he knew Jack Kerouac well and this book is a celebration of their relationship. Click here for a link to a number of reviews.

I am sad to report that I started this book soon after getting it in 2009 and never finished it. At the time I found it tough going (for reasons I can't remember). I've never tried to read it again, but it's on my bucket list. I know, I know -- how can I be Jack Kerouac's biggest fan and not have read David Amram's memoir about Ti Jean? At least I'm being honest about what I've read, and it doesn't matter anyway because lately I don't remember 99% of what I read after a couple of days have passed.

I will say that in his own right, David Amram is an international treasure. He is a highly accomplished composer and consummate musician and a hell of a nice guy to boot.

Tangential comment: Is it just me, or does David's picture on the cover make him look like Ed Norton from The Honeymooners?



I didn't see a place on David's website to order his book, so I am leaving you with the Amazon link below.





Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (17th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: A Memoir of Kerouac and the Fifties by Helen Weaver.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #122 from my Kerouac bookshelf: The Long Slow Death of Jack Kerouac by Jim Christy

Item #122 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 1998 ECW Press edition (no printing number) of Jim Christy's The Long Slow Death of Jack Kerouac. 110 pages, it measures about 4-3/4" x 7-3/8" and is in very good condition. The provenance is uncertain, but I likely acquired it via Amazon.

This is one of the more concise Kerouac biographies I've read. While the back cover blurb says -- and the title suggests -- that it focuses on the last ten years of Jack's life, it does cover his entire life. It takes about 50 pages to get to the last 10 years.

Reviewer Brian Foyle, who is quoted in the book twice (I would love to know which quote he doubts he said and which one he regrets saying), points out that Christy critiques other Kerouac biographers for making mistakes and then makes mistakes himself. Foyle's review -- which I think is pretty spot on -- can be read here.

This is a very readable biography -- I re-read it in its entirety yesterday -- and one thing that strikes me is that Christy "gets" Kerouac. For example, he sees Kerouac as the compassionate, religious writer that he really was. For example:

I've spoken to people who, upon reading On the Road, immediately quit their jobs, their schools, and set out for adventure. Often they put aside an entire way of thinking about the world, and their own world widened with new music to listen to, new books to read -- but the most important, and most overlooked, of the gifts of the book, and all others written by Kerouac, is the gift of compassion. (p. 36).

Or as Christy opines on p. 40, "the writer's great heart was as wide open as the road itself." Christy compares Kerouac to St. Augustine and draws a number of parallels.

Christy paints a different  picture of Kerouac's last years, ones that most people think of as only about alcoholic decline, providing some positive insights into Jack's last decade. Of note is Christy's description of the beating Jack took outside the Cactus bar not long before he died, the details of which support my long-standing theory that Kerouac was, in effect, murdered (as I wrote about here).

Typical biographical inaccuracies aside, this is an interesting Kerouac biography and deserves a spot on a comprehensive Kerouac bookshelf.









Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (16th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac by David Amram.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival this October!

Each year in October, the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival takes place in Jack's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts. I have attended 8 times since 2008 and it is always well worth the time and expense. For information about the festival, you can visit their website here. This year's dates are October 4-8. The best place to stay is the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center (if you can get a room). Many of the events are walkable from there. Lowell is an eminently walkable city and we have always felt safe there.

I always write a report from our adventures in Lowell. You can read 2016's here (plus access links to all my past reports). I hope you will take the opportunity to read about this wonderful event.

We will be traveling out west and will miss this year's LCK Festival (we missed last year because we had just returned home from traveling in Europe for a month and just didn't have the gumption). That means someone in attendance will have to write a guest blog report on this year's festival. Contact me if you are interested in being that someone.

As Jack said in On The Road, "Everybody goes home in October."

Curation #121 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Where the Road Begins: An Anthology edited by Kathy Devlin et al.

Item #121 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2007 Cultural Organization of Lowell publication edited by Kathy Devlin, Matthew Miller, LZ Nunn, and Brian Zbriger. It was published in conjunction with Lowell, Massachusetts' 50th anniversary celebration of Kerouac's On The Road. 77 pages, it measures about 5" x 7-1/2" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that Crystal picked this up for free at the 2012 Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival (which you can read about here) because she spent $25 on other merchandise.

As co-editor LZ Nunn says in the Foreword, this book is a

tribute to Kerouac's legacy 50 years after On the Road was first published [Note: The scroll was on display in Lowell at this time]. It includes writers who span both the region and the generations, from teenagers to Kerouac contemporaries . . . . (p. ii)

In this book you will find mostly "original and previously unpublished works." There are 9 essays including one by Al Hinkle (Big Ed Dunkel in On The Road) and one by Jami Cassady (Neal's daughter). There are 35 poems including one by musician and Kerouac friend, David Amram. The essays are all related to Kerouac in some manner, while most of the poems are not.

This is a quality little publication and worth having on your Kerouac bookshelf. You can order one from Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! here ($5 alone or free with a $25 purchase).




Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (15th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: The Long Slow Death of Jack Kerouac by Jim Christy.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #120 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Empty Phantoms: Interviews and Encounters with Jack Kerouac edited by Paul Maher Jr.

Item #120 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2005 Thunder's Mouth Press 1st printing of Empty Phantoms: Interviews and Encounters with Jack Kerouac edited by Paul Maher Jr. Totaling 505 pages, it measures about 5-3/8" x 8-1/8" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that it was a 2008 Christmas gift from Crystal (I know that because she inscribed the dedication page).

As the back cover blurb states,

Empty Phantoms gather together nearly all known printed, recorded, and filmed interviews--including the celebrated, infamous, and obscure--with Jack Kerouac.

I can't speak to the claim about "nearly all," but this particular copy is not the "Expanded & Revised" edition (which I have not seen but would like to); nevertheless, it contains 56 separate pieces. It also includes an introduction by the editor, and an appendix with the story of Kerouac's discharge from the Navy and a copy of his actual military medical record relating to his discharge (noted as the first time it had been published). The title of the book comes from Kerouac saying to Mike Wallace, "We're all just empty phantoms."

The reason the title says "encounters" is that -- despite the the above blurb focusing on interviews -- there are a number of essays about Kerouac as well as interviews with him. For example, included is John Clellon Holmes' heart-wrenching essay about Jack's death, "Gone in October" -- a must read for Kerouacians.

Kudos to Maher for bringing this ambitious project to fruition. He notes in the acknowledgement the help of Kerouac scholar Dave Moore from the U.K., who had already keyed many of the interviews into text files.

This is essential Kerouac in his own words, as well as those of others, and it's helpful for scholars to have it in one place. It's an interesting read for fans as well. Thus, it deserves a spot on any self-respecting Kerouac bookshelf.











Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (14th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Where the Road Begins: An Anthology edited by Kathy Devlin et al.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #119 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends by Bob Kealing

Item #119 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2004 Arbiter Press 2nd printing of Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends by Bob Kealing. 167 pages, it measures about 6" x 9" and is in good condition. The title page is signed by the author, which makes me think I got it directly from him although my memory is foggy on that point. Another memory gone and foiling my ability to provide the provenance of an item in my collection. But, it is what it is. Maybe Bob will write and remind me if he sees this.

In 1996, award-winning journalist Bob Kealing wrote an article in the Orlando Sentinel about the run-down cottage on Clouser Avenue in College Park where Kerouac had lived with his mother in 1957-58. The rest of that story is that Kealing's article was the catalyst for the creation of the Jack Kerouac Writers In Residence Project of Orlando, Inc., which is still thriving and you can read about here.

As regular readers of this blog know, Clouser Avenue wasn't the only place in Florida where Jack lived, and Kealing's book describes the years in Jack's life when he was moving between Florida (Orlando and St. Petersburg) and New York and Massachusetts. The book is engagingly written, and includes never-before published photographs of Kerouac, a foreword by David Amram, a Kerouac Florida Time Line, a selected bibliography, and an index.

Kealing is a reporter and thus a good writer, and he used up a lot of shoe leather for this book, traveling to various locations to review materials and interview people. Yes, Florida is where the road ended for Jack, and this book includes details of his alcoholic demise. But it also provides a lot of other details from the period, so it is not a downer at all (especially given that we all know the end of the story) and it helps flesh out the Kerouac story in Florida.

It's a good read and I recommend it for your Kerouac bookshelf.

P.S. Kealing was not only instrumental in saving the Clouser Avenue house and starting the Kerouac Project in Orlando but also in finally getting Kerouac's sister Caroline's ("Nin") Orlando grave a gravestone (click here for the story) in 2009 (Nin died in 1964).






Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (13th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Empty Phantoms: Interviews and Encounters with Jack Kerouac edited by Paul Maher Jr.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

RIP Tom Clark, poet and Kerouac biographer

Tom Clark, whose Kerouac biography we curated here on July 4, 2018, died after being struck by a car while crossing the The Alameda in North Berkeley on August 17, 2018.

Click here to read a Berkeleyside article with details of his amazing life.

Tom was 77 years old.

May he rest in peace.

Curation #118 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Minor Characters by Joyce Johnson

Item #118 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 1994 Penguin Books 10th printing of Minor Characters by Joyce Johnson. I've seen different subtitles for this book (e.g., A Beat Memoir), but on the title page -- not the cover -- it is subtitled: A Young Woman's Coming-of-Age in the Beat Orbit of Jack Kerouac. 265 pages, it measures about 5" x 7-5/8" and is in good condition (quite a few annotations -- not mine). The provenance is uncertain, but it was likely an Amazon purchase either for myself or as a gift from someone.

First published in 1983 by Houghton Mifflin Company, Minor Characters is a memoir by Joyce Johnson, the woman Jack was seeing at the time On The Road was published on September 5, 1957. Her last name was Glassman at the time. When this book was published it met with positive reviews such as this one from the NY Times and it won a National Book Critics Circle Award. This particular edition features an introduction by Ann Douglas and a foreword by the author written in 1994.

This is a compelling memoir for several reasons. First, the author was an intimate of Kerouac when his fame was launched with the publication of On The Road. She was there. Second, it provides a voice from within the Beat circle by a woman, something Kerouac's works did not do (his portrayals of women were superficial at best). Finally, and most importantly perhaps, Johnson is a damn good writer in her own right.

This book is a must-read and an essential item for your Kerouac bookshelf.






Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (12th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends by Bob Kealing.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #117 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Mañana Means Heaven by Tim Z. Hernandez

Curation #117 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2013 The University of Arizona Press first edition first printing of Mañana Means Heaven by Tim Z. Hernandez. 231 pages, it measures about 6" x 9" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that I received from the publisher as a review copy. As you can see, the cover indicates that it is an "Advance Reading Copy."

I curated my other copy of Mañana Means Heaven yesterday so there is not much else to say about it except that the book won the 2014 International Latino Book Award in historical fiction. To read about Tim's other writings and awards, visit his website here.

We'll conclude with the relevant section from On The Road (from which the title derives):

"Sure, baby, mañana." It was always mañana. For the next week that was all I heard--mañana, a lovely word and one that probably means heaven (p. 94).

Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (11th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: another copy of Minor Characters  by Joyce Johnson.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

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Curation #116 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Mañana Means Heaven by Tim Z. Hernandez

Item #116 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this hardcover 2013 The University of Arizona Press 1st edition 1st printing of Mañana Means Heaven by award-winning author, Tim Z. Hernandez. 230 pages, it measures about 6" x 9" and is in very good condition. The provenance is uncertain -- I may have received this copy directly from the author. I know that the actual copy I read and reviewed is an advance reading copy I got directly from the publisher (being curated next).

I've reviewed Tim's excellent book on The Daily Beat. Click here to read that July 31, 2013 review. Tim graciously agreed to write a guest blog for us on September 17, 2013: click here to read it.

For those new to this book or to Kerouac, a famous section of Jack's On The Road deals with his brief affair in California with a migrant farmworker named Terry, real-life Bea Franco. That story from On The Road was published as a short story in Paris Review in 1956 as  "The Mexican Girl." Tim located and interviewed Bea, leading to this delightful book.

From the inside dust cover:

Mañana Means Heaven deftly combines fact and fiction to pull back the veil on one of literature's most mysterious and evocative characters. Inspired by Franco's love letters to Kerouac and Hernandez's interviews with Franco, now in her nineties [she died one week after first holding the book in her hands - click here] and living in relative obscurity, the novel brings this lost gem of a story out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

As I said in my review, "Tim Z. Hernandez has created an important entry for the Kerouac canon that also stands on its own merits as a well-crafted novel about love and loss. Bravo." Mañana Means Heaven definitely deserves a space on your Kerouac bookshelf.









Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (10th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: another copy of Mañana Means Heaven  by Tim Z. Hernandez.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #115 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Jan Kerouac: A Life in Memory edited by Gerald Nicosia

Item #115 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2009 Noodlebrain Press first edition (no printing number) of Jan Kerouac: A Life in Memory edited by Gerald Nicosia. 187 pages, it measures about 6" x 9" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that I got it directly from the editor, who signed and inscribed the title page thus:

For Rick Dale--
Who's been on the Beat
trail a long time
(still some surprises)
[drawing of a rose]
a rose from
St. Theresa--
Peace &
friendship--
Gerry Nicosia
1-24-12
Corte Madera

As the author's website states:

Jan Kerouac: A Life in Memory is the first biography of post-Beat novelist and poet Jan Kerouac. Edited by Gerald Nicosia, it contains contributions by Nicosia, Phil Cousineau, Brenda Knight, Aram Saroyan, Brad Parker, John Allen Cassady, R.B. Morris, Jacques Kirouac, Adiel Gorel, Lee Harris, Mary Emmerick, Lynn Kushel Archer, Carl Macki, John Zielinski, Buddah (John Paul Pirolli), and Dan McKenzie, as well as a long interview with Jan by Nicosia and over 40 photographs.

I reviewed this book on March 1, 2012 here, and I encourage readers to visit that link for my take on this book. If you're just joining us, Jan was a gifted writer, and we curated three of her works earlier in this project:

June 20, 2018 Baby Driver
June 21, 2018 Trainsong
June 25, 2018 Excerpts from Parrot Fever


You can contact the editor directly to see about getting a signed copy here.




Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (9th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Mañana Means Heaven  by Tim Z. Hernandez.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #114 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac by Gerald Nicosia

Item #114 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 1994 University of California Press 4th printing of Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac by Gerald Nicosia. 767 pages, it measures about 6" x 9" and is in fair condition (I refer to it frequently so it is well-used, annotated, sticky-noted, highlighted, underlined, and so on). The provenance is that I bought it used from Amazon in the early 2000s, but the title page was signed and inscribed by the author during his stay at my house in Belgrade Lakes, Maine in April 2013:

CHEZ DALE -- Belgrade Lakes
For Rick Dale --
Who keeps Jack's true
spirit alive -- in kindness
and care for justice --
in love of the simple things --
and remember the birds for
Gerard!
In peace &
friendship --
Love --
Gerry Nicosia
April 24, 2013

Memory Babe is one of the earliest  Kerouac biographies. First published by Grove Press, Inc. in 1983, it was preceded by Ann Charters' (1973) and Dennis McNally's (1979) works (curated here and here). It remains one of the most comprehensive and definitive. The title derives from the nickname young Jack's friends ascribed to him because of his prodigious memory. You can read The Washington Post's review of it here.

Memory Babe is a massive work, with biographical details of Kerouac's life (in part based on 300 some interviews Nicosia conducted) interwoven with literary criticism of Jack's major works. One of the things my great friend Richard Marsh taught me that is a fantastic thing to do is to read the sections of Memory Babe relevant to a Kerouac book and then immediately read the book. Or do it simultaneously. This takes some work with the index as all the comments about a novel are not necessarily in one spot (e.g., The Dharma Bums is listed in the index as being mentioned on pages 496, 547, 570, 573, 575, 577, 579, 585, 587, 599, 619, 627, and 640).

Memory Babe is divided into three "Books" that cover the time from Jack's birth through his death (1922-1946, 1947-1955, and 1956-1969). It includes 16 pages of pictures and a 21-page index. Author Nicosia created an archive of materials related to his work on the book, and that archive is open to the public in Jack's hometown of Lowell, MA. Richard and I visited the archive in March of 2015 and I blogged about it three times:

3-28-15
3-31-15
4-4-15 

If you are a Kerouac fan or scholar, Memory Babe is a must for your Kerouac bookshelf. Sadly, it is currently out-of-print, but you can contact the author directly to see about getting a signed copy (see #7 here), plus there are used copies available at the usual places.



Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (8th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Jan Kerouac: A Life in Memory edited by Gerald Nicosia.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #113 from my Kerouac bookshelf: The Selected Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder edited by Bill Morgan

Item #113 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this hardcover 2009 Counterpoint first printing of The Selected Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder edited by Bill Morgan. 321 pages, it measures about 6" x 9" and is in very good condition. The provenance? I don't remember.

Years ago, friends and family wrote each other letters to communicate. Now, it seems, that practice has been largely usurped by e-mails and texts and Tweets and Facebook messages, etc. I continue the practice with my friends Charlie and Gerry, who live at great distance, and I must say that it is quite satisfying.

To wit, Beat triumvirate member Allen Ginsberg and Kerouac muse Gary Snyder, poets both, wrote each other more than 850 letters between 1956 and 1991. Ginsberg biographer Bill Morgan has selected the most significant letters from their long friendship and collected them in this volume.

This book provides a fascinating and intimate look into the friendship and lives of two major figures in the Beat Generation story. There are 16 pages of pictures and an index. Morgan lists who was writing to whom and where they were for each letter, and provides unobtrusive explanatory footnotes when necessary. The book begins with a short preface by Morgan and a brief note from Snyder, who is still alive at this writing (Ginsberg died in 1997).

I highly recommend this book to Kerouac or Beat Generation fans. It won't disappoint.






Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (7th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac by Gerald Nicosia.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #112 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Ring of Bone: Collected Poems by Lew Welch

Item #112 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2012 City Lights (no printing number) copy of Ring of Bone: Collected Poems by Lew Welch. 262 pages, it measures about 5-1/2" x 8-3/4" and is in good condition (lots of dog-ears -- I don't remember doing that but it must have been me). The provenance is that this was a review copy I received from the publisher.

And, indeed, I did review this book here on The Daily Beat here on August 16, 2012. Lew Welch was a Hell of a poet, and as I said then, I love his poetry. I provided the following caveat important to a curation effort:

. . . do not confuse this with the 1979 edition of the same title, which was published not long after Lew "left his car and his camp and his plan, and walked off [from Gary Snyder's house] into the wilds of the northern Sierra" (p. 13), never to be heard from again (or found). This is a new (2012) edition from City Lights Books with a preface by Gary Snyder (Japhy Ryder in The Dharma Bums).

Regular readers need no introduction to Welch, but if you need one, check out my review at the link above. This book definitely deserves a spot on any Kerouac bookshelf worth its salt. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.



Rather than an Amazon link, here is a link to City Lights where you can -- and should -- buy Ring of Bone directly from the publisher. You're welcome, Mr. Ferlinghetti. Sorry, Mr. Bezos.



Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (6th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: The Selected Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder edited by Bill Morgan.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #111 from my Kerouac bookshelf: One and Only: The Untold Story of On The Road & Lu Anne Henderson, the Woman Who Started Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady on Their Journey by Gerald Nicosia and Anne Marie Santos

Item #111 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2012 Viva Editions first edition first printing of One and Only: The Untold Story of On The Road & Lu Anne Henderson, the Woman Who Started Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady on Their Journey by Gerald Nicosia and Anne Marie Santos. 256 pages, it measures about 5-3/8" x8-1/8" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that I got it directly from the co-author, Gerald Nicosia, who inscribed and signed the title page.

Since we curated the hardback edition of this book yesterday (click here), there is not much else to be said. This edition does have a new preface in which Nicosia gives a behind-the-scenes look at the making of On The Road, the movie. We published an interview with Nicosia about this very topic here on The Daily Beat (with exclusive pictures) back in May of 2012.

Whether hardcover or paperback, this book definitely belongs on the bookshelf of any dedicated Kerouac fan or scholar.







Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (5th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Ring of Bone: Collected Poems by Lew Welch.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #110 from my Kerouac bookshelf: One and Only: The Untold Story of On The Road & Lu Anne Henderson, the Woman Who Started Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady on Their Journey by Gerald Nicosia and Anne Marie Santos

Item #110 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this hardcover 2011 Viva Editions first edition first printing of One and Only: The Untold Story of On The Road & Lu Anne Henderson, the Woman Who Started Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady on Their Journey by Gerald Nicosia and Anne Marie Santos. 244 pages. it measures about 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that this was a review copy I received directly from the publisher.

Gerald Nicosia is no stranger to regular readers of The Daily Beat. He is well-known as an early Kerouac biographer (Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac) and I have posted interviews with Gerry in the past. In this book, Nicosia teams up with Anne Marie Santos, the daughter of Lu Anne Henderson ("Marylou" in On The Road) to bring us an intimate and in-depth look at the woman who, as the title indicates, "started Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady on their journey."

I reviewed this book in-depth on February 24, 2012, so there is no need to go into detail here. You can read that review here.

This book definitely deserves a spot on your Kerouac bookshelf.







Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (4th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: a paperback copy of One and Only: The Untold Story of On The Road & Lu Anne Henderson, the Woman Who Started Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady on Their Journey by Gerald Nicosia and Anne Marie Santos.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #109 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

Item #109 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this hardcover 1959 copyright Grove Press, Inc. 12th printing of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch. 255 pages, it measures about 5-1/2" x 8" and is in very good condition. The provenance is that I bought it from Twice-Sold Tales, a used bookstore in Farmington, Maine, for $10.50 a few years ago.

Naked Lunch is widely acknowledged as Burroughs' masterpiece, the title of which was suggested by Jack Kerouac. It means "a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork" (p. v). The book is a series of vignettes that Burroughs would say can be read in any order. It deals with familiar Burroughs themes: drug addiction, sexuality, the "establishment." The book was banned in Boston for obscenity, but won on appeal as having "social value."

Confession: I've tried to read Naked Lunch twice and stopped both times. Most recently, last month, I made it to p. 51 (a section titled, "The Black Meat") before I stalled out. To me, it is as incoherent as The Wild Boys, which I opined about here (make sure to read Kurt Phaneuf's comment). But that is part of Burroughs' genius, the unsettling of the reader not only by topic but also by the writing itself.

I'll slog through it eventually.







Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (3rd from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: One and Only: The Untold Story of On The Road & Lu Anne Henderson, the Woman Who Started Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady on Their Journey by Gerald Nicosia and Anne Marie Santos.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #108 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Junky by William S. Burroughs

Item #108 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2003 Penguin Books 13th printing of Junky by William S. Burroughs. 166 pages, it measures about 5" x 7-5/8" and is in very good condition. The provenance is uncertain.

This is the "50th Anniversary Definitive Edition," featuring a 25-page introduction by Oliver Harris and seven Appendices that include Chapter 28 from the original manuscript, a helpful glossary, and other relevant pieces such as letters and previous editions' forewords or introductions. Junky was Burroughs' first published novel -- it's a semi-autobiographical account of life as a narcotics addict and homosexual in mid-20th century New York City, New Orleans, and Mexico City. Editor Harris painstakingly recreated Burroughs' original text from archival transcripts (making it the "definitive" text of a book that appeared in 1953 under the original title, Junk, authored under Burroughs' pseudonym, William Dennison).

This is a gritty, dark read, but as Burroughs novels go, it is eminently readable. He takes the reader with him into the world of the opioid addict in a way that is heart-wrenching -- and sometimes stomach-turning -- but always compelling. I know I trashed on Burroughs' The Wild Boys yesterday, but I recommend Junky if you are looking for something to read by this towering Beat Generation figure.






Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (2nd from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf

Curation #107 from my Kerouac bookshelf: The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead by William S. Burroughs

Item #107 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 1992 (first published by Grove in 1971) Grove Press 10th printing edition of The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead by William S. Burroughs. 184 pages, it measures about 5-1/4" x 8" and is in very good condition. The provenance is likely that I acquired it via Amazon.

Regular readers of The Daily Beat need no explanation for why this is on my Kerouac bookshelf, but for newcomers, suffice to say that Burroughs was one of the core Beat Generation figures along with Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg (and others such as Lucien Carr, Gregory Corso, John Clellon Holmes, Herbert Huncke, and even, I suppose, Neal Cassady -- who am I missing?). Now on to the book.

According to the back cover blurb, "The Wild Boys is a futuristic tale of global warfare in which a guerrilla gang of boys dedicated to freedom battles the organized armies of repressive police states." I tried reading it when I first got it, and gave up. Same with Naked Lunch (curated soon). The only Burroughs book I have made it through is Junky (curated next).

As the NY Times reviewer said in 1971 (click here),

Burroughs is indeed a serious man and a considerable writer. But his books are not really books, they are compositions that astonish, then pall. They are subjective experiences brought into the world for the hell of it and by the excitement of whatever happens to be present in Burroughs's consciousness when he writes.

The Wild Boys appears to be classic Burroughs, full of cut-up and spontaneous prose. And my hat's off to his influence on pop culture (for example, the appearance of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust is based on descriptions in this book).

It seems that you either "get" or "like" Burroughs' writing or you don't. I wish someone would tell me the key to one or both. I fear the problem is that I am just not cool enough, something for which there is no fix.






Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (1st on the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: Junky by William S. Burroughs.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf