Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

(March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary

iconoclast Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

and, alongside

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

and

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

, a pioneer of the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

. Kerouac is recognized for his method of spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as

Catholic spirituality Catholic spirituality includes the various ways in which Catholics live out their Baptismal promise through prayer and action. The primary prayer of all Catholics is the Eucharistic liturgy in which they celebrate and share their faith together, ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

promiscuity Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, drugs, poverty, and travel. Kerouac used the name "Duluoz Legend" to refer to his collected autobiographical works.

Fiction

;Published during Kerouac's lifetime *''

The Town and the City ''The Town and the City'' is a novel by Jack Kerouac, published by Harcourt Brace in 1950. This was the first major work published by Kerouac, who later became famous for his second novel ''On the Road'' (1957). Like all of Jack Kerouac's major ...

'' (written 1946–1949; published 1950) *''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagoni ...

'' (written 1951; published 1957) *''

The Subterraneans ''The Subterraneans'' is a 1958 novella by the Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. It is a semi-fictional account of his short romance with Alene Lee (1931–1991), an African-American woman, in Greenwich Village, New York. It was the first w ...

'' (written 1953; published 1958) *''

The Dharma Bums ''The Dharma Bums'' is a 1958 novel by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. The basis for the novel's semi-fictional accounts are events occurring years after the events of ''On the Road''. The main characters are the narrator Ray Smith, based o ...

'' (written November 1957; published 1958) *''

Doctor Sax ''Doctor Sax'' (''Doctor Sax: Faust Part Three'') is a novel by Jack Kerouac published in 1959. Kerouac wrote it in 1952 while living with William S. Burroughs in Mexico City. Composition The novel was written quickly in the improvisatory s ...

'' (written June 1952; published 1959) *'' Maggie Cassidy'' (written Jan. 2, 1953; published 1959) *''

Tristessa ''Tristessa'' is a 1960 novella by Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac set in Mexico City. It is based on his relationship with a Mexican prostitute (the title character). The woman's real name was Esperanza ("hope" in Spanish); Kerouac changed ...

'' (written summer 1955 and fall 1956; published 1960) *''

Book of Dreams ''Book of Dreams'' is the tenth studio album by Steve Miller Band. The album was released in May 1977 on Capitol Records in the United States, Canada and Japan and by Mercury Records in Europe. Three singles were released from the album in 1977 ...

'' (written 1952–1960; published 1960) *''

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

'' (written October 1961; published 1962) *''

Visions of Gerard ''Visions of Gerard'' is a novel by American Beat writer Jack Kerouac. Kerouac wrote it over the course of the first two weeks of 1956, while staying with his sister Caroline in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and it was published in 1963. It is t ...

'' (written January 1956; published 1963) *'' Desolation Angels'' (written fall 1956 and summer 1961; published 1965) *'' Vanity of Duluoz'' (written 1967; published 1968) ;Posthumous fiction *'' Atop an Underwood: Early Stories and Other Writings'' (1936–1943; published 1999) *''

The Sea Is My Brother ''The Sea Is My Brother'' is a novel by the American author Jack Kerouac, published in 2011. The novel was written in 1942 and remained unpublished throughout Kerouac's lifetime due to his dissatisfaction with it. The plot and its characters are ...

'' (written 1942; first published in Slovak translation 2010 Bratislava, Slovakia, European Union: Artfórum) *'' The Haunted Life and Other Writings'', Novel (written 1944; published 2014) *'' Orpheus Emerged'', novella (written 1944–1945; published 2000) *''

And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks And or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar and computing * Conjunction, connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a Boolean ope ...

'', with

(written 1945; published 2008) *'' La vie est d'hommage'', edition of all previously unpublished French writings, includes some non-fiction (written 1950–1965; published 2016) *'' The Unknown Kerouac: Rare, Unpublished & Newly Translated Writings'' (1946–1968; published 2016) *''

Visions of Cody ''Visions of Cody'' is an experimental novel by Jack Kerouac. It was written in 1951–1952, and though not published in its entirety until 1972, it had by then achieved an underground reputation. Since its first printing, ''Visions of Cody'' h ...

'' (written 1951–1952; excerpts published December 1959; novel published 1972) *''

Pic PIC or pic may refer to: Places * Penbay International Circuit, or PIC, a motor track circuit in Pingtung County, Taiwan * Pic River, in Ontario, Canada * Picayune (Amtrak station) (Amtrak station code PIC), Mississippi, United States * Pic, a ...

'' (written 1951 and 1969, published 1971)

Poetry

*''

Mexico City Blues ''Mexico City Blues'' is a long poem by Jack Kerouac, composed of 242 "choruses" or stanzas, which was first published in 1959. Written between 1954 and 1957, the poem is the product of Kerouac's spontaneous prose technique, his Buddhist faith ...

'' (1955; published 1959) *'' Scattered Poems'' (1945–1968; published 1971) (includes the poem

Pull My Daisy ''Pull My Daisy'' is a 1959 American short film directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, and adapted by Jack Kerouac from the third act of his play, ''Beat Generation''. Kerouac also provided improvised narration. It features poets Allen G ...

) *'' Book of Sketches'' (1952–1957; published 2006) *'' Old Angel Midnight'' (1956-1959; published 1973, republished in 2016 by City Lights) *'' Trip Trap: Haiku on the Road from SF to NY'' (1959; published 1973) (with

Albert Saijo Albert Fairchild Saijo (February 4, 1926 – June 2, 2011) was a Japanese-American poet associated with the Beat Generation. He and his family were imprisoned as part of the United States government's internment of Japanese Americans during World ...

and Lew Welch) *''

Heaven and Other Poems Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the beliefs of some r ...

'' (1957–1962; published 1977) *'' San Francisco Blues'' (1954; published 1983) *'' Pomes All Sizes'' (compiled 1960; published 1992) *'' Book of Blues'' (1954–1961; published 1995) *'' Book of Haikus'' (published 2003) *''Collected Poems'' (published 2012, volume 231 in Library of America)

Other work and non-fiction

*'' Good Blonde & Others'' (1955; published 1993) *'' Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha'' (1955; published 2008) *'' Some of the Dharma'' (1953–1956; published 1997) *'' The Scripture of the Golden Eternity'' (1956; published 1960) (meditations, koans, poems) *''

'', play (1957, published 2005) *''

Lonesome Traveler ''Lonesome Traveler'' is a non-fiction collection of short essays and sketches by American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac, published in 1960. It is a compilation of Kerouac's journal entries about traveling the United States, Mexico, Morocco, ...

'' (1960) *'' Satori in Paris'' (1966)

Letters, journals, interviews

*'' Dear Carolyn: Letters to Carolyn Cassady'' (1983) (1000 copies Edited By Arthur and Kit Knight) * *'' Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters, 1957-1969'' *'' Windblown World: The Journals of Jack Kerouac'' (1947–1954) *'' Safe In Heaven Dead'' (1990) (Interview fragments published by

Hanuman Books Hanuman Books (named after the Hindu monkey god Hanuman) was originally a 50 book series of very small books, formatted to resemble Indian prayer books. In 1986 Hanuman Books was founded and published by American art critic Raymond Foye and arti ...

) *'' Conversations with Jack Kerouac'' (Interviews) *'' Empty Phantoms'' (Interviews) *'' Departed Angels: The Lost Paintings'' *'' Door Wide Open'' (2000) (by Joyce Johnson. Includes letters from Jack Kerouac) *'' Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters'' (2010)

Collections

* *''Desolation Peak: Collected Writings'' (1956; published 2022)

Discography

*'' Poetry for the Beat Generation (1959)'' (LP) *'' Blues and Haikus (1959)'' (LP) *'' Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation (1960)'' (LP) *'' The Jack Kerouac Collection'' (1990) ox(Audio CD Collection of 3 LPs) *'' The Jack Kerouac Romnibus(1995)'' (a multimedia CD-ROM project coupled with a book) (Ralph Lombreglia and Kate Bernhardt) *'' Jack Kerouac Reads On the Road'' (1999) (Audio CD) *'' Doctor Sax and the Great World Snake'' (2003) (Play Adaptation with Audio CD)

Filmography

References

External links

Who's Who: A Guide to Kerouac's Characters
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerouac Jack Bibliography Bibliographies by writer Bibliographies of American writers Postmodern literature bibliographies