The Association des Familles Kirouac publishes Le Trésor des Kirouac several times a year. It comes with membership in the association, which is open to anyone regardless of ancestry.
The upcoming issue (#138) will include my brief review of the new & revised Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac by Gerald Nicosia. The above picture of me holding the new book with my Kerouac bookshelf in the background will accompany the review.
This is a screenshot of only part of the TOC for
Issue 138You will want to become a member of the Kirouac Families Association per the link above and get your own copy of Issue 138. In the meantime, below the ******* is the text of my review:
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Gerald Nicosia’s Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac was first published by Grove Press, Inc. in 1983, making it one of the earliest Kerouac biographies and earning the author the Distinguished Young Writer award from the National Society of Arts and Letters while still a work-in-progress. After Grove put it out of print, Penguin published it from 1985-1992. University of California Press published it in 1994 but put it out of print in 2001. That is the version I have turned to for in-depth Kerouac biographical details over the years as attested to by the rough shape my copy is in, not to mention the many annotations and Post-It flags adorning it. For a number of reasons, not the least of which is the blacklisting of Nicosia by the Sampas family in Lowell, MA, keepers of the Kerouac estate, Memory Babe has now been out of print for over 20 years! It is a delight to see it being published by Noodlebrain Press in time for the 100-year anniversary of Kerouac’s birth in 1922.
The Centennial Edition of Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac was due to be published September 6, 2022. New rules for review in some important publications make it necessary for Nicosia to move the official publication date up to November 1, 2022. However, advance copies can still be obtained from the author by emailing him at gnicosia@earthlink.net. New and revised, this edition maintains the substance of Nicosia’s critically acclaimed work, but includes additional material and corrections, including over 110 photos, many of which are new. There is an introduction to the new edition by R.B. Morris in which he itemizes some of the new material, including updated information about Kerouac’s ancestry, “more firsthand knowledge regarding his death” (p. 20), new details on the famous Six Gallery reading in San Francisco in 1955, and updates about the recent discovery of Neal Cassady’s long-lost Joan Anderson Letter.
One of the distinguishing features of Memory Babe, in addition to its detailed and deep insights into Kerouac’s life, has always been Nicosia’s foray into a literary analysis of Kerouac’s major works, including Mexico City Blues, Visions of Cody, and Doctor Sax among others. I can’t stress enough how much more a reader can glean from Kerouac’s works by using Memory Babe as a companion reading guide.
The Centennial Edition includes the author’s preface to the 1994 edition, but also includes a completely new 16-page prelude in which Nicosia provides a critique of the general state of Kerouac scholarship as well as background on his work being blacklisted by Kerouac estate executor John Sampas. In this section Nicosia gives his opinions on the value of several posthumously published Kerouac works, including Some of the Dharma and Book of Sketches. It is in this same section where we find detailed background information on the Joan Anderson Letter. The prelude concludes with advice for where the critical study of Kerouac needs to go in the future. The valuable information in this prelude alone is worth the cost of the book.
Nicosia has worked hard to bring Memory Babe (Jack’s nickname among childhood peers because of his prodigious memory) back into print, and he succeeded in not only making the content of the previous editions available again, but also in bringing forth new information that has come to light over the years. Kudos to Mr. Nicosia for making it possible for Kerouac scholars and fans to once again access the definitive Kerouac biography.
Advance copies are available now by contacting the author at gnicosia@earthlink.net.
2 comments:
Good piece Dr. Dale, thanks for keeping the flame going here.
Having read the original version cover to cover several times over the years, I was not sure I had the energy to do it again at the present time. I can't say that I have now, but pretty darn close. Is and always was a remarkable and important book. I've probably told you before, but this would be my "If you're stranded on a desert island and can only have one book" choice.
Richard Marsh
Thanks, Richard. The stranded on a desert island pick is quite the endorsement.
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