Jack Kerouac Libri
La scrittura di Jack Kerouac ha catturato lo spirito della Beat Generation, raggiungendo un successo commerciale con una pubblicazione fondamentale nel 1957 che ha definito un movimento letterario. Il suo stile distintivo e le sue esplorazioni tematiche hanno risuonato profondamente, rendendo la sua opera una pietra miliare della letteratura americana. La voce distintiva di Kerouac continua a influenzare lettori e scrittori.







On the Road. Il «Rotolo» del 1951
- 504pagine
- 18 ore di lettura
«Sono andato veloce perché la strada è veloce.» Tra il 2 e il 22 aprile 1951 – scrive Kerouac a Neal Cassady – «ho scritto un romanzo su una striscia di carta lunga 120 piedi infilata nella macchina da scrivere e senza paragrafi, fatta srotolare sul pavimento e sembra proprio una strada». Con questo “rotolo” ha inizio la vicenda del mitico romanzo che narra i viaggi di Kerouac tra Stati Uniti e Messico negli anni 1947-50 e che vedrà la luce, in una versione ampiamente rimaneggiata, solo nel 1957. Più lungo di quello definitivo, il testo originario di On the road contiene numerose scene poi tagliate e risulta più cupo, spigoloso e disinibito. Intima, sfrenata e “vera”, la scrittura di Kerouac trascina il lettore alla bruciante scoperta di una strada che è la vita stessa.
Il libro degli haiku
- 176pagine
- 7 ore di lettura
Un volume che raccoglie gli haiku composti da Kerouac tra il 1956 e il 1966, seguendo le suggestioni provenienti dalla cultura orientale: brevissime poesie che nel limitato spazio di diciassette sillabe e tre versi racchiudono, secondo la secolare tradizione giapponese, un'intera visione della vita. Lampi di pura illuminazione in cui il grande scrittore riesce a reinventare un genere totalmente nuovo per la letteratura americana. Un libro che rivela un aspetto inedito e sorprendente del genio letterario di Kerouac, troppo spesso noto solo come il grande maestro della Beat Generation.
Angeli di desolazione
- 413pagine
- 15 ore di lettura
Questo romanzo autobiografico, pubblicato negli Stati Uniti nel 1965, racconta un anno cruciale nella vita di Jack Kerouac, il periodo immediatamente precedente alla pubblicazione di "On the Road" nel settembre del 1957. Dopo aver trascorso due mesi da solo come guardaboschi al Desolation Peak nelle Cascade Mountains, Kerouac, attraverso il suo alter ego fittizio Jack Duluoz, si tuffa nuovamente nel vivace e frenetico mondo dei bar, dei club jazz e delle feste di San Francisco. Sempre in cerca di risposte, riprende la sua vita errante da vagabondo, viaggiando a Città del Messico, New York, Tangeri, Parigi e Londra. Cerca di sfuggire al mondo e di trovare il divino, ma fallisce ripetutamente, giungendo infine alla conclusione: «Taci e vivi, viaggia, avventurati, benedici e non rimpiangere nulla!» "Angeli di desolazione" rappresenta l'essenza più pura di Kerouac.
Vecchio Angelo Mezzanotte
- 107pagine
- 4 ore di lettura
Le suggestioni liriche, le sperimentazioni linguistiche e l'appassionata ricerca di un assoluto che si nasconde nelle pieghe della realtà, in uno degli scritti del maestro della Beat Generation.
Big Sur
- 208pagine
- 8 ore di lettura
Romanzo autobiografico in cui Kerouac si confronta con il proprio mito, quello del profeta della vita libera "in viaggio". Big Sur è scritto da un autore già famoso che avverte l'arrivo della mezza età, guardando indietro e bilanciando con amarezza il suo percorso di vita. Il testo è una cronaca del soggiorno nella baita di Ferlinghetti sulla costa, dove Kerouac cerca di ritrovare se stesso in solitudine e di disintossicarsi. Tuttavia, non riesce a sfuggire a visioni ricorrenti di distruzione e ricade nei vecchi schemi di vita alcolica con amici che lo distraggono involontariamente, impedendogli di completare ciò che si era prefissato. Un libro straordinariamente oscuro, che si chiude con un'immagine di riconciliazione, forse più desiderata che realmente vissuta.
Poesie Beat - Edizione integrale con testo inglese a fronte
- 142pagine
- 5 ore di lettura
Queste Poesie beat coprono oltre vent'anni di esercizi poetici e rappresentano dunque una chiave di lettura preziosissima della parabola del Kerouac poeta. Le prime, le più antiche, quelle scritte insieme a Ginsberg e a Neal Cassidy, segnano un momento di grande entusiasmo: la speranza di rompere la solitudine canonica dell'artista di fronte all'opera d'arte, avvalendosi del contributo degli amici. A poco a poco, invece, Kerouac tende a ripiegarsi su se stesso, a rifugiarsi nell'ineffabile, avvicinandosi a religioni e culture che sembrano dare una risposta al suo desiderio di libertà e di autonomia. Ma non si può non riconoscere che anche nei versi più oscuri, più indecifrabili, vibra un'eco della sua straordinaria energia. Testo inglese a fronte.
La storia dell'amore tra un bianco e una nera, amore commosso e nevrotico tra due esseri che si rincorrono e si respingono, nell'ambiente delle caves di San Francisco popolate di giovani ribelli a ogni morale sociale, i cui idoli sono il jazz, la velocità, il sesso, la droga e la libertà individuale: giovani disperati ed inquieti che credono nella vita ma respingono i sistemi morali e sociali precostituiti e vogliono scoprirne da sé di nuovi. Processato per oscenità alla sua prima apparizione nella collana Le comete di Feltrinelli, il romanzo fu assolto con una sentenza che riconosceva "la bellezza lirica di alcune sue immagini, la forza e il ritmo del racconto, la ricerca accurata di richiami ed espressioni come elementi che consentono al collegio di pervenire alla conclusione che il romanzo è opera non pornografica e non oscena, è invece opera d'arte".
Sulla strada
- 384pagine
- 14 ore di lettura
Sal Paradise, un giovane newyorkese con ambizioni letterarie, incontra Dean Moriarty, un ragazzo dell'Ovest. Uscito dal riformatorio, Dean comincia a girovagare sfidando le regole della vita borghese, sempre alla ricerca di esperienze intense. Dean decide di ripartire per l'Ovest e Sal lo raggiunge; è il primo di una serie di viaggi che imprimono una dimensione nuova alla vita di Sal. La fuga continua di Dean ha in sé una caratteristica eroica, Sal non può fare a meno di ammirarlo, anche quando febbricitante, a Città del Messico, viene abbandonato dall'amico, che torna negli Stati Uniti.
Una raccolta che comprende oltre sessanta testi giovanili inediti, tra cui poesie, saggi, bozzetti, racconti e pezzi teatrali, che documentano il percorso seguito da Kerouac per diventare uno scrittore e un artista. Una infaticabile ricerca di se stesso e della propria vocazione nel milieu multietnico e industriale nell'America degli anni Trenta e Quaranta.
Mexico City blues
- 352pagine
- 13 ore di lettura
Richiamo autenticamente esotico, Città del Messico non rappresenta in questa raccolta poetica il motivo palesemente dominante, quanto un dato nascosto da scoprire tra le pieghe della biografia del poeta che, vivendo a San Francisco, poteva reperire nella capitale centro-americana ogni tipo di droga a basso prezzo: quella droga che, peraltro, resta l’elemento prepotentemente espresso e non solo soggiacente alla nascita della scrittura di Kerouac. Mexico City diventa allora trampolino di lancio verso altri mondi fino a restare soffocato, come oggetto lirico, nella ragnatela dei numerosi temi che la raccolta sa proporre: da quelli orientalisti del filone Zen a quelli di viaggio, dai motivi dell’amicizia al senso di nostalgia per un’America che si colora ancora delle sue accese contraddizioni. «Mexico City Blues è un grande classico. È un’opera originale, con un discorso molto personale, di una musicalità notevole. Un’opera di genio continuato, una suite di 242 poesie, come i Sonetti di Shakespeare, in cui Kerouac “jezza” la lingua americana». Allen Ginsberg «Forse son pazzo, e parti di me Sono ancora sparpagliate – non le ho raccolte Quando la forma stava uscendo Dalla finestra del donatore, Così vado in cerca dell’alienazione Per farmi riportare a terra Attraverso la fredda aria lunare della logica...»
Ambientato nella comunità operaia franco-canadese di Lowell, Massachusetts, il racconto si sviluppa attraverso Jack Duluoz, un atleta delle scuole superiori che riflette sulla sua adolescenza. Questa storia semi-autobiografica esplora temi come il primo amore, l'innocenza giovanile e il legame maschile tra amici. Attraverso i ricordi vividi della sua relazione con Maggie Cassidy, Kerouac cattura l'intensità e la purezza del giovane amore. Man mano che il viaggio di Jack lo porta a New York grazie a una borsa di studio sportiva, la storia rivela in modo toccante la perdita dell'innocenza e le complessità delle relazioni adulte.
Pic - Edizione integrale
- 100pagine
- 4 ore di lettura
Scritto quasi interamente nel 1948 ma completato solo vent'anni più tardi, Pic fu pubblicato postumo, nel 1971. È la storia tenera e piena di un dolce humour di Pictorial Review Jackson, detto Pic, un bimbo nero che vive col nonno in North Carolina. Rimasto solo, il ragazzino viene dapprima affidato a una zia, poi se ne fa carico Slim, il fratello maggiore. Il piccolo Pic, una sorta di Huckleberry Finn del Novecento, intraprende insieme a Slim un viaggio attraverso gli Stati Uniti rocambolesco e ricco di incontri e di avventure: i due arriveranno fino a New York per poi dirigersi verso la California. Il viaggio, tema per eccellenza del romanzo americano, della Beat Generation e di Kerouac in particolare, è declinato qui in tono picaresco, attraverso lo sguardo innocente e sincero del giovane Pic e il suo caratteristico linguaggio, pieno di freschezza ed entusiasmo, così come di vivaci invenzioni. Sullo sfondo, l'irresistibile colonna sonora della musica jazz.
Per anni Jack Kerouac ebbe l'abitudine di tenere accanto al letto, sul comodino, un taccuino e una matita. E ogni mattina, appena sveglio, registrava tutto quanto poteva ricordare dei sogni fatti durante la notte. Da quegli appunti trasse poi questa sorta di "autobiografia parallela" filtrata attraverso l'attività onirica, pubblicata da Lawrence Ferlinghetti nel 1961 in un'edizione ridotta e qui proposta per la prima volta nella versione integrale. Nei sogni qui narrati compaiono molti dei personaggi dei racconti dell'autore di On the Road, riconoscibili grazie alla tabella delle corrispondenze suggerita dallo stesso Kerouac. Insolito e originale, Il libro dei sogni è un'opera illuminata da una scrittura spontanea e affascinante, una finestra aperta sul mondo interiore di un grande scrittore.
Il Dottor Sax
- 272pagine
- 10 ore di lettura
Storia di un'adolescenza fra i rigori dell'eduzione cattolica e la lettura quasi morbosa dei fumetti. Un romanzo spiazzante e surreale popolato di personaggi fantastici.
Jack Kerouac proveniva da una famiglia cattolica osservante che gli diede un'educazione profondamente religiosa nel senso tradizionale. Ciò non impedì allo scrittore, a partire dalla metà circa degli anni Cinquanta, di avvicinarsi con crescente interesse ed entusiasmo al buddhismo, in particolare a quello della tradizione Mahayana. Nacque da questa disposizione spirituale e da questa curiosità intellettuale Il libro del risveglio , scritto nel 1955. Si tratta di una biografia letteraria di Siddharta Gautama, il Buddha (ovvero "il risvegliato"), ricavata da diverse fonti antiche e narrata con lo stile unico, fluido di Kerouac che ne fa un libro maestoso, quasi una sinfonia. Una lettura importante sia per chi desideri avvicinarsi al buddhismo e al suo fondatore, sia per chi voglia comprendere la genesi e il significato di libri come I vagabondi del Dharma . Ma soprattutto uno dei testi più originali, riusciti e multiformi del profeta del Beat, in cui si fondono spiritualità e doti narrative, interesse culturale e amore per la parola.
La leggenda di Duluoz
- 564pagine
- 20 ore di lettura
The Americans
- 180pagine
- 7 ore di lettura
From the Publisher: In 1958, the first edition of Robert Frank's The Americans was published in Paris. Les Americains contained Frank's 83 photographs in the same sequence as all subsequent editions, with the image on the right hand page, but juxtaposed with historical texts about American society and politics, gathered by Alain Bosquet. The following year, in the first American edition, the French texts were removed and an introduction by Jack Kerouac was added. Over the subsequent 50 years, The Americans has been republished in many editions, in numerous languages, with a variety of cover designs and even in a range of sizes. It is the most famous photography book ever published, and it changed the face of the medium forever. Robert Frank discussed with his publisher, Gerhard Steidl, the idea of producing a new edition using modern scanning and the finest tritone printing. The starting point was to bring original prints from New York to Gottingen, Germany, where Steidl is based. In July 2007, Frank visited Gottingen. A new format for the book was worked out and new typography selected. A new cover was designed and Frank chose the book cloth, foil for embossing and the endpaper. Most significantly, as he has done for every edition of The Americans, Frank changed the cropping of many of the photographs, usually including more information. Two images were changed completely from the original 1958 and 1959 editions
Truth and Beautiful Meaningful Lies
- 344pagine
- 13 ore di lettura
Truth and Beautiful Meaningful Lies is a collection of memorable quotes from one of the most quoted writers in American literature. This book covers different topics and themes woven throughout Jack Kerouac's writing. It's the perfect way to re-discover the works of this iconic author.
Guide to First Edition Prices 2004/2005
- 528pagine
- 19 ore di lettura
Compiled for collectors, book dealers and all who love books, this indispensable volume provides a guide to the value of over 33,000 sought-after books. It includes classic authors from Jane Austen to Oscar Wilde, detective writers from Eric Ambler to Minette Walters, illustrators from Aubrey Beardsley to Florence Upton, and poets from Richard Aldington to Walt Whitman. More than 600 authors and artists are represented, in British and American first editions, limited editions, and important, collectable reprints. As featured on Front Row, Radio 4, and recommended by BBC Homes and Antiques magazine. The tantalizing game of wondering how much your first editions are worth may be continued, with the publication of the Guide to First Edition Prices - Times Literary Supplement.
"[An] essential Beat masterpiece." --The Village Voice. Perhaps one of the last great dual correspondences of the twentieth century, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters reveals not only the process of creation of the two most celebrated members of the Beat Generation, but also the unfolding of a remarkable friendship of immense pathos and spiritual depth. Through this exhilarating exchange of letters, two-thirds of which have never been published before, Kerouac and Ginsberg emerge first and foremost as writers of artistic passion, innovation, and genius. Vivid and enthralling, the letters, which date from their first meeting in 1944 to Kerouac's untimely death in 1969, chronicle the endless struggle, anguish, and sacrifice involved in giving form to their literary visions.
Through candid correspondence with notable figures like Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, this collection of letters chronicles Jack Kerouac's life from 1957 until his death in 1969. The letters illuminate his evolution as a writer, capturing his travels, love affairs, and complex family dynamics. They also reflect his resilience against criticism and his relentless pursuit of literary excellence. This volume provides a profound glimpse into the thoughts and experiences of a pivotal figure in American literature.
Self-Portrait
- 560pagine
- 20 ore di lettura
Exploring the depths of Jack Kerouac's psyche, this collection features previously unpublished writings from his extensive archive, showcasing a more introspective side of the author beyond his iconic persona. Spanning his adult life, the pieces include journal entries from his youth and reflective writings from later years, revealing his spiritual struggles and complex relationships with family, fame, and addiction. This compilation offers a unique glimpse into Kerouac's creative process and personal evolution, making it a significant addition to his literary legacy.
Kerouac: Selected Letters: Volume 1: 1940-1956
- 656pagine
- 23 ore di lettura
The life and craft of Jack Kerouac are traced through some of his most personal and mesmerizing letters. Written between 1940, when he was a freshman in college, and 1956, immediately before his leap into celebrity with the publication of On the Road, these letters offer valuable insights into Kerouac's family life, friendships with Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs, and others.
Visions of Cody, Visions of Gerard, Big Sur
- 864pagine
- 31 ore di lettura
"All three [novels] were seen by Kerouac as forming part of The Duluoz Legend, a multivolume autobiographical saga recording the major events of the author's life"--Page 761.
"In his portrayal of the fervent relationship between the writer Sal Paradise and his outrageous, exasperating, and inimitable friend Dean Moriarty, Kerouac created one of the great friendships in American literature; and his rendering of the cities and highways and wildernesses that his characters restlessly explore are a hallucinatory travelogue of a nation he both mourns and celebrates. Now, The Library of America collects On the Road together with four other autobiographical Toad books" published during a remarkable tour-year period." "The Dharma Bums (1958), at once an exploration of Buddhist spirituality and an account of the Bay Area poetry scene, is notable for its thinly veiled portraits of Kerouac's acquaintances, including Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Kenneth Rexroth. The Subterraneans (1958) recounts a love affair set amid the bars and bohemian haunts of San Francisco. Tristessa (1960) is a melancholy novella describing a relationship with a prostitute in Mexico City. Lonesome Traveler (1960) collects travel essays that evoke journeys in Mexico and Europe, and concludes with an elegiac lament for the lost world of the American hobo. Also included in Road Novels are selections from Kerouac's journal, which provide a fascinating perspective on his early impressions of material eventually incorporated into On the Road."--BOOK JACKET
Rozprášené básně je sbírka spontánních básní Jacka Kerouaca. Obsahuje i dvě verze básně Pohlaď mi ho (Pull My Daisy), kterou napsal Kerouac společně s Nealem Cassadym a Allenem Ginsbergem. České vydání obsahuje jak originální verze všech básní v angličtině, tak jejich český překlad.
Some of the Dharma
- 434pagine
- 16 ore di lettura
Written during a critical period of his life, Some of the Dharma is a key volume for understanding Kerouac and the spiritual underpinnings of his workWhile his future masterpiece, On the Road , languished on the desks of unresponsive editors, Kerouac turned to Buddhist practice, and in 1953 began compiling reading notes on the subject intended for his friend Allen Ginsberg. As Kerouac's Buddhist meditation practice intensified, what had begun as notes evolved into a vast and all-encompassing work of nonfiction into which he poured his life, incorporating poems, haiku, prayers, journal entries, meditations, fragments of letters, ideas about writing, overheard conversations, sketches, blues, and more.The final manuscript, completed in 1956, was as visually complex as the writing: each page was unique, typed in patterns and interlocking shapes. The elaborate form that Kerouac so painstakingly gave the book on his manual typewriter is re-created in this typeset facsimile. Passionate and playful, filled with humor, insight, sorrow, and struggle, Some of the Dharma is one of Kerouac's most profound and original works.
These classic Kerouac meditations, zen koans, and prose poems express the poet's beatific quest for peace and joy through oneness with the...
Vanity of Duluoz is a key volume in Jack Kerouac's lifework, the series of autobiographical novels he referred to as The Legend of Duluoz. With the same tender humor and intoxicating wordplay he brought to his masterpieces On the Road and The Dharma Bums, Kerouac takes his alter ego from the football fields of small-town New England to the playing fields and classrooms of Horace Mann and Columbia, out to sea on a merchant freighter plying the sub-infested waters of the North Atlantic during World War II, and back to New York, where his friends are the writers who would one day become known as the Beat generation and where he publishes his first novel.
The town and the city
- 512pagine
- 18 ore di lettura
The town in this tale is Galloway, Masachusetts, birthplace of the five sons and three daughters of the Martin family in the early 1900s. The city is New York, the heaving melting pot which lures them all in search of futures and identity.
The Subterraneans. Pic
- 192pagine
- 7 ore di lettura
Written over the course of three days and three nights, The Subterraneans was generated out of the same ecstatic flash of inspiration that produced another one of Kerouac's early classic, On The Road. Centering on the tempestous breakup of Leo Percepied and Mardou Fox--two denizens of the 1950s San Francsico underground--The Subterraneans is a tale of dark alleys and dark rooms, of artists, of visionaries,
Desolation Peak
- 312pagine
- 11 ore di lettura
In the summer of 1956, Jack Kerouac hitchhiked from Mill Valley, CA, to the North Cascades to serve as a fire lookout for the US Forest Service. Armed only with the Diamond Sutra, he sought deep contemplation and enlightenment, focusing on the "emptiness of self" and universal self. He anticipated a transformative experience on Desolation Peak, which is central to his novel The Dharma Bums and appears in parts of Desolation Angels and Lonesome Traveler. However, none of these accounts fully capture his experience, making this work essential. Kerouac's unique exploration of consciousness sets him apart from other writers, and his legacy lies in the record of his internal struggles as a sensitive artist in the mid-20th Century. The highlight is his journal, which starkly reveals his poverty, mood swings, and internal conflicts regarding his life, writing, and faith. Alongside the journal, he worked on projects like "Ozone Park," "The Martin Family," and "Desolation Adventure," reaffirming his commitment to an experimental style, declaring that "the form of the future is no-form." Also included are his transliteration of the Diamond Sutra, "Desolation Blues," "Desolation Pops," and various prose sketches and dreams.
Heaven and Other Poems
- 70pagine
- 3 ore di lettura
Donald Allen, the late great editor of the Evergreen Review at Grove Press and editor of the seminal anthology The New American Poetry , first met Jack Kerouac in 1956 when he and Allen Ginsberg came to visit at his West Village apartment. At the time, Allen was working on the "San Francisco Scene" issue of the Evergreen Review , and Ginsberg and Kerouac brought him manuscripts and news of developments on the West Coast. Over the next three years, Kerouac would send Allen poems for various projects, along with letters in which he discussed his poetry, his life, and the work of his young contemporaries. The unpublished poems are collected here, as are the letters, a comic strip drawn for the Cassady children, and Kerouac's self-penned poetic biography. Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) was a principal actor in the Beat Generation, a companion of Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady in that great adventure. His books include On the Road , The Dharma Bums , Mexico City Blues , Lonesome Traveler , Visions of Cody , Pomes All Sizes (City Lights), Scattered Poems (City Lights), and Scripture of the Golden Eternity (City Lights).
Door Wide Open
- 208pagine
- 8 ore di lettura
On a blind date in Greenwich Village set up by Allen Ginsberg, Joyce Johnson (then Joyce Glassman) met Jack Kerouac in January 1957, nine months before he became famous overnight with the publication of On the Road. She was an adventurous, independent-minded twenty-one-year-old; Kerouac was already running on empty at thirty-five. This unique book, containing the many letters the two of them wrote to each other, reveals a surprisingly tender side of Kerouac. It also shares the vivid and unusual perspective of what it meant to be young, Beat, and a woman in the Cold War fifties. Reflecting on those tumultuous years, Johnson seamlessly interweaves letters and commentary, bringing to life her love affair with one of American letters' most fascinating and enigmatic figures.
A deluxe edition of Kerouac's 1958 classic Published just one year after On The Road, this is the story of two men enganged in a passionate search for Dharma or truth. Their major adventure is the pursuit of the Zen Way, which takes them climbing into the High Sierras to seek the lesson of solitude. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
San Francisco Blues
- 96pagine
- 4 ore di lettura
In alternating chapters that reveal a nascent period in their development as two of the twentieth century's most influential writers, Beat Generation icons William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac's And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanksis an electrifying true-life mystery, including afterword by James Grauerholtz in Penguin Modern Classics.This is a hardboiled crime novel, and a true story. In 1944, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, then still unknown writers, were both arrested following a murder- one of their friends had stabbed another and then come to them for advice - neither had told the police. Later they wrote this fictionalised account of that summer - of a group of friends in wartime New York, moving through each other's apartments, drinking, necking, talking and taking drugs and haphazardly drifting towards a bloody crime. Unpublished for years, And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanksis a remarkable insight into the lives and literary development of two great writers. If you enjoyed And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks, you might like Kerouac's On the Road, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.'The novel that kicked it all off'Independent'An insight into Kerouac before he went on the road and Burroughs before his drug use spiralled out of control, this is a major literary event'GQ
Lonesome traveler
- 160pagine
- 6 ore di lettura
As he roams the US, Mexico, Morocco, Paris and London, Jack Kerouac breathlessly records, in prose of pure poetry, the life of the road. Standing on the engine of a train as it rushes past fields of prickly cactus; witnessing his first bullfight in Mexico while high on opium; catching up with the beat night life in New York; burying himself in the snow-capped mountains of north-west America; meditating on a sunlit roof in Tangiers; or falling in love with Montmartre and the huge white basilica of Sacré-Coeur – Kerouac reveals the endless diversity of human life and his own high-spirited philosophy of self-fulfilment.
"His life...ended when he was nine and the nuns of St. Louis de France Parochial School were at his bedside to take down his dying words because they'd heard his astonishing revelations of heaven delivered in catechism on no more encouragement than it was his turn to speak...."Unique among Jack Kerouac's novels, Visions of Gerard focuses on the scenes and sensations of childhood—the wisdom, anguish, intensity, innocence, evil, insight, suffering, delight, and shock—as they were revealed in the short tragic-happy life of his saintly brother, Gerard. Set in Kerouac's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, it is an unsettling, beautiful, and sad exploration of the meaning and precariousness of existence.
Good Blonde
- 232pagine
- 9 ore di lettura
In these uncollected writings Jack Kerouac portrays himself in his life. He hitches a ride to San Francisco with a blonde, goes on the road with photographer Robert Frank, rides bus through the Northwest and Montana, records the blues of an old Negro hobo, talks about the Beats and how it all began, gives his "Essentials of Spontaneous Prose" and defends his novel The Subterraneans, compares Shakespeare and James Joyce, describes the cafeterias and subways of Manhattan, goes to a ballgame and a prize fight, and reflects on Céline, on Christmas in New England, on Murnau's Nosferatu, on jazz & bop, and tells us what he's thinking about. And in the closing piece "cityCityCITY," we're treated to Jack's science fiction vision of the future."Table of Contents Robert Creeley: Thinking of Jack: A Preface On the Road On the Beats On Writing Observations On Sports Last Words cityCityCITY Editor's Note
Written in late 1942, the novel was inspired by Jack Kerouac's experiences of life at sea on board the S.S. Dorchester, after working the summer as a Merchant Marine.
Sur les origines d'une génération
- 160pagine
- 6 ore di lettura
'De là je suis allé à Paris, où il ne se passait rien si ce n’est que la plus belle fille du monde n’aimait pas mon sac à dos et avait rendez-vous avec un type à petite moustache debout une main dans la poche et un sourire méprisant aux lèvres devant les cinémas de nuit de Paris.'Qu’est-ce qu’être 'Beat'? À travers ses thèmes de prédilection – la littérature, le jazz, le voyage, la route, le bouddhisme, le zen… – l’auteur de Sur la route nous entraîne vers la réponse à un rythme hypnotique.
Tristessa
- 80pagine
- 3 ore di lettura
Her name means sadness, yet Tristessa, a prostitute and morphine addict, lives without cares in her shabby room with a menagerie of pets and an altar to the Virgin Mary. Based on Jack Kerouac's own real-life love affair in Mexico city, this is the story of a man's ill-fated relationship with a woman he portrays with tenderness and dignity, even as her life spirals out of control.
Trip Trap
- 57pagine
- 2 ore di lettura
This revised edition features haikus by Jack Kerouac, Albert Saijo, and Lew Welch from their 1959 road trip from San Francisco to New York. The poems capture the essence of life on the road, alongside Albert's recollections of their journey and letters to Kerouac from Lew Welch.
The Sea is My Brother. The Lost Novel.
- 432pagine
- 16 ore di lettura
'His first novel is a revelation ... the writing is vivid, serious and extraordinary ... wonderful' The Times The Sea is My Brother is Jack Kerouac's very first novel, begun shortly after his tour as a merchant sailor in 1942. Lost during his lifetime, it is an intense portrait of friendship and brotherhood and a meditation on the desire to escape society, following the fortunes of two men as they impulsively decide to work their passage on the S.S. Westminster: drinking, arguing, playing cards, dodging torpedoes and contemplating the vast, terrible beauty of the sea. Published with fragments of early stories and letters, this visceral work gives a unique insight into the young Kerouac and the formation of his genius. 'What's clear from this newly published first novel is that Kerouac was positively fizzing with talent at an early age' Sunday Times
Visions of Cody
- 464pagine
- 17 ore di lettura
Kerouac's classic fictional tribute to Neal Cassady. Many years before its first unabridged publication, 'Visions of Cody' became an underground classic. Written by Kerouac at his creative zenith, the book is a celebration of the life of Neal Cassady, his great friend and inspiration. Appearing here as Cody Pomeray, Cassady was also immortalised as Dean Moriarty in 'On the Road'. The son of a drunken Denver drop-out, brought up homeless and motherless during the Depression, Cassady lived his life raw -- hustling in pool halls, stealing cars for marathon joy rides across the States, living wild and penniless amongst society's misfits and outcasts. He left a sizzling reputation in his wake, becoming the insane Beat Demon of San Francisco. Through him Kerouac created one of the few lasting heroes of 20th-century literature and established himself in the great tradition of American letters.
The Haunted Life
- 196pagine
- 7 ore di lettura
The Haunted Life is the coming-of-age story of Peter Martin, a college track star determined to idle away what he knows will be one of his last innocent summers in his tranquil New England home town. But with the war escalating in Europe and his two closest friends both plotting their escapes, he realizes how sheltered his upbringing has been. As he surveys the competing influences of his youth, he struggles to determine what might lead to an intellectually authentic life. The Haunted Life is ultimately a meditation on intellectual truth, male friendship and the desire for movement - all themes that would dominate Kerouac's later work.
Satori in Paris
- 108pagine
- 4 ore di lettura
Satori is the Japanese word for sudden awakening or illumination. This autobiographical novel is an odyssey of discovery. It is also an insight into Kerouac's introduction to the eastern mysticism that was to become a lifelong passion.
Orpheus Emerged
- 176pagine
- 7 ore di lettura
'There will never be a moment like this one, ' says poet and fellow beatnik Robert Creeley in his introduction to this literary event: the first full-length work to be published since Kerouac's death in 1969. Recently discovered by his estate, ORPHEUS EMERGED chronicles the passions, conflicts and dreams of a group of bohemians searching for truth while studying at a university. Kerouac wrote the story shortly after meeting Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Lucien Carr and others in and around Columbia University who would form the core of the Beats. ORPHEUS EMERGED is a unique portrait of an artist as a young man and shows a writer in the process of finding the voice that would eventually express the spirit of a generation
Piers of the Homeless Night
- 64pagine
- 3 ore di lettura
See my hand up-tipped, learn the secret of my human heart . . . ' Soaring, freewheeling snapshots of life on the road across America, from the Beat writer who inspired a generation.
Succeed all your 2024 exams: Analysis of the novel of Jack Kerouac's On the road
- 52pagine
- 2 ore di lettura
This comprehensive study guide provides an in-depth literary analysis of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, making it an essential resource for students preparing for their 2024 exams. Endorsed by professors, it covers the author's biography, a detailed summary of the novel, and an exploration of key themes. Additionally, it examines the literary movement associated with Kerouac, ensuring that all critical aspects of the work are thoroughly understood.
Alone on a mountaintop = Sám na vrcholu hory
- 177pagine
- 7 ore di lettura
Bilingvní vydání tří povídek, které ukazují tři různé polohy autorova psaní a tři životní situace. Železniční země je jedním z prvních Kerouacových textů, které byly vůbec do češtin převedeny, autor v nich líčí, jak prožíval své zaměstnání brzdaře; ve Scénách z New Yorku zaznamenává radost z přátelského putování odvázaným velkoměstem; naproti tomu povídka Sám na vrcholu hory načrtává téma, které rozvinul v románu Andělé zoufalství - osamělý pobyt a usebrání na postu požární hlídky v divokých horách na hranicích USA a Kanady.
Penguin Poets: Book of Sketches
- 413pagine
- 15 ore di lettura
In 1951, it was suggested to Jack Kerouac by his friend Ed White that he "sketch in the streets like a painter but with words." In August of the following year, Kerouac began writing down prose poem "sketches" in small notebooks that he kept in the breast pockets of his shirts. For two years he recorded travels, observations, and meditations on art and life as he moved across America and down to Mexico and back. In 1957, Kerouac sat down with the fifteen handwritten sketch notebooks he had accumulated and typed them into a manuscript called Book of Sketches; he included a handful of new sketches he had written that year. Published now for the first time, and with an introduction by George Condo, Book of Sketches offers an intimate glimpse of Kerouac at a key period of his literary career.
The New American Poetry, 1945-1960
- 479pagine
- 17 ore di lettura
This counter-cultural collection of American verse fits in Robert Lowell's famous definition of the raw in American poetry. Contributors include: Olson; Duncan; Creeley; Guest; Ashbery; Ginsberg; Kerouac; Levertov; O'Hara; Snyder; and Schuyler.
Les Américains
- 110pagine
- 4 ore di lettura
En 1955, Robert Frank parcourt les États-Unis, appareil photo en main, capturant des moments de vie des Américains rencontrés sur son chemin : serveuses, ouvriers, fêtards, amoureux, et motards. Ce n'est pas un reportage, mais une série de notes visuelles où des visages anonymes se mêlent à des paysages tristes et des zones urbaines. Les images, souvent floues et avec une composition décentrée, utilisent des noirs profonds qui ajoutent une dimension d'abstraction. En 1958, 84 photographies en noir et blanc sont publiées par Robert Delpire, mais reçoivent un accueil indifférent, jugées tristes et subversives. Avec le temps, elles deviennent un classique de la photographie. Soixante ans après sa première publication, l'ouvrage revient dans une édition revue et corrigée par Frank lui-même, avec des modifications au niveau de la couverture, du format, du papier et du traitement des images, se rapprochant de l'édition américaine. La préface de Jack Kerouac est également proposée dans une nouvelle traduction par Brice Matthieussent.
Jacka Kerouaca i Allena Ginsberga — pisarzy, ikony kultury, najbardziej znanych przedstawicieli „beat generation” — łączyła nie tylko wrażliwość artystyczna, ale także głęboka, wieloletnia przyjaźń. Dzięki ogromnemu zbiorowi korespondencji przyjaźń ta ukazuje się w swej fascynującej pełni. To barwna, intrygująca, żywa, zaskakująca niezwykłą spostrzegawczością i intensywnością przeżycia rozmowa dwóch indywidualności. Ponad dwieście opublikowanych listów, chociaż są tylko częścią wielkiego zbioru, który powstawał od 1944 roku, pozwala prześledzić kształtowanie się w ciągu prawie dwudziestu lat poglądów estetycznych, filozoficznych i politycznych dwóch niezwykłych postaci — twórców, którzy wyznaczyli kierunek artystyczny całemu pokoleniu.
Eine außergewöhnliche Zusammenstellung bisher unveröffentlichter Fotografien der Beat Generation Dieses großartige Buch mit Aufnahmen des renommierten Magnum-Fotografen Burt Glinn enthält eine bemerkenswerte Zusammenstellung von weitgehend unveröffentlichten Fotografien der Beat Generation. Dieser Schatz von Bildern wurde entdeckt, als R A P mit Burt Glinns Witwe, Elena, an einer größeren Retrospektive seines Werkes arbeitete. Neben zahlreichen Schwarz- Weiß-Aufnahmen enthält das Buch auch über 70 farbige Bilder. Diesen gelingt es, die rohe Energie der Beat-Generation auf eine Art und Weise zu zeigen, wie sie nie zuvor in Buchform erhältlich war. Die Fotografien entstanden zwischen 1957 und 1960 in New York und San Francisco und sie zeigen fast alle Mitglieder der Szene, darunter Allen Ginsberg und Jack Kerouac, Dichter wie Gregory Corso, William Morris und viele andere. Glinn wurde für sein außergewöhnliches Talent als sozialdokumentarischer Fotograf gefeiert. Während seiner Zeit bei den Beatniks erfasste seine Kamera den Spirit der Counterculture - zu sehen sind Schriftsteller, Musiker und Künstler, die sich in Cafés, Bars und auf Partys trafen. Seine Kamera hielt eine Art zu leben fest, die vom gesellschaftlichen Mainstream nie akzeptiert wurde. Im Archiv fand sich auch ein Essay von Jack Kerouac, der hier mit veröffentlicht wird.
Die Geschichte von Kerouacs Alter Ego Jack Duluoz erzählt von dessen High-School-Erlebnissen in Massachusetts und seiner Zeit als Football-Stipendiat an der Columbia Universität. Gerade als Jack in sein glamouröses Erwachsenenleben ausbrechen will, bricht auch der Zweite Weltkrieg aus, Jack tritt der US Navy bei und bereist die Welt. Während er Erfahrungen sammelt, erkennt er die Grenzen seiner ursprünglichen Pläne und kehrt zurück nach New York, wo die Beat-Bewegung gerade ihren Anfang nimmt, zurück in einen Tumult aus Drogen, Sex und wahnhaftem Schreiben.
Duluozova marnost
- 308pagine
- 11 ore di lettura
Jack Kerouac o svém díle často hovořil jako o souvislém celku tvořícím tzv. Duluozovu legendu a právě Jack Duluoz, autorovo alter ego, stojí v tomto případě přímo v názvu knihy, takže není pochyb o tom, co, nebo lépe řečeno kdo, bude hlavním tématem. Jack Duluoz své ženě, a tím pádem i čtenáři, vypráví, čím vším si musel projít v letech 1935-46. A že toho nebylo málo: před našima očima se odvíjí dobrodružný přerod ambiciózního maloměstského fotbalisty v intelektuála omámeného New Yorkem, stojíme po jeho boku na moři za druhé světové války i ve vězení při vyšetřování vraždy. To všechno má však jediné směřování - Kerouac, totiž Duluoz, je na nejlepší cestě k tomu, aby se stal kultovním autorem Beat Generation. Citlivější čtenáři možná uslyší jeho hlas, tak naléhavé je jeho překotné vyprávění, tak živý jeho jazyk. Možná se Duluoz občas chvástá, možná občas fňuká, ale nikdy, nikdy není nudný.
Tato kniha obsahuje krátké povídky a ukázky od amerických autorů, kteří reprezentují legendární beatnickou kulturu, jejímž centrem bylo San Francisco. Mezi hlavními autory najdeme Ferlinghettiho, Cassadyho, Kerouaca, Ginsberga a Corsoa, doplněné o další autory z Ameriky a Evropy. Výbor představuje literární díla dvaceti autorů spolu s úvodními informacemi o jejich životech a je zakončen esejem Aldouse Huxleyho o vlivu drog na uměleckou tvorbu. Povídky se zabývají tématy, která zkoumají neprozkoumané oblasti lidské mysli, odhalují bizarní vize a extrémní zážitky. Autoři se vydávají na cesty fantazie vyvolané halucinogeny, setkávají se s obrazy ráje i temnoty, smrti a sebezničení. Tato antologie je pro dnešního čtenáře ukázkou svobody tvorby psychedelické generace šedesátých let, která zanechala nesmazatelnou stopu v moderní literatuře. Obsahuje úryvky a povídky od autorů jako Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg a další, včetně esejů a rozhovorů, které reflektují jejich jedinečné pohledy na svět.
More je môj brat je vzburou jednotlivca voči obmedzeniam ľudskej spoločnosti a jej krutým zákonitostiam a bolestiam. Wesley Martin, hlavný hrdina, miluje more zvláštnou, nepochopiteľnou bratskou láskou. More je jeho bratom i katom. Kniha je však i príbehom jeho priateľa Billa Everharta. Ten utečie pred spoločnosťou na more, ktoré sa však pre neho stáva zdrojom nekonečnej osamelosti.
La filosofía de la generación Beat y otros escritos
- 224pagine
- 8 ore di lettura
Interview s Jackem Kerouakem pro Paris Review
- 118pagine
- 5 ore di lettura
Další kniha o toulání, tentokrát o malém černošském chlapci ze Severní Karolíny, kterému umře milovaný děda. Mag se dostane do opatrování ke své tetě, odkud ho unese jeho světaznalý bratr, čímž se roztáčí koloběh stopování, improvizace a života na okraji společnosti. Pro bratry je každý den bojem, ale o to víc cítí, že žijí...
Dobrá bloncka je soubor různorodých Kerouacových textů, který rekapituluje témata, ke kterým se vracel, a to různými formami, beletristicky i žurnalisticky. Nacházíme v něm nepublikované povídky a prozaické fragmenty, publicistické texty o literatuře, o sportu, o jazzu, o beatnické generaci. Argo vydává Kerouacovy texty dlouhodobě a soustavně a spolupracuje s celou řadou předních překladatelů, a většina z nich se objevuje i v nejnovějším kerouacovském svazku. Tato antologie Kerouacových témat se tak stává i jakousi antologií překladatelských přístupů.
Włóczędzy Dharmy
- 328pagine
- 12 ore di lettura
Ray Smith i Japhy Ryder, zapaleni buddyści, uczestniczą w życiu bohemy artystycznej San Francisco. Jednak maratony pijaństwa, poetyckie jam sessions, tworzenie haiku, narkotyczne i seksualne ekscesy nie prowadzą ich ku Dharmie, czyli Prawdzie. Oczyszczeniem dla obu staje się wędrówka wzorem mnichów zen przez wysokie góry Sierra Nevada. Dopiero tam odnajdują głęboki sens swych egzystencjalnych poszukiwań. Zmuszeni mierzyć się siłą natury i osamotnieniem, uczą sie, jak przetrwać, licząc tylko na siebie. Fantastyczne opisy przyrody i kolejne etapy wspinaczki pozwalają w pełni odczuć atmosferę tej szczególnej wędrówki. Książka jest zapisem doświadczenia charakterystycznego dla pokolenia bitników, którzy w narkotycznym odurzeniu, przypadkowym seksie i melanżu przekonań religijnych poszukiwali oświecenia.
У дорозі (U dorozi, ukrajinsky)
- 478pagine
- 17 ore di lettura
Le vagabond américain en voie de disparition : précédé de Grand voyage en Europe
- 92pagine
- 4 ore di lettura
Sous prétexte d'aller chercher ses droits d'auteur à Londres, Kerouac flâne à travers l'Europe. Il découvre les charmes troubles de Tanger, les paysages de Cézanne, les promenades émerveillées dans Paris, la pluie normande et les brumes de Londres...Dans un brillant plaidoyer en faveur des vagabonds, il se place sous l'égide de Virgile, de Benjamin Franklin ou de Walt Whitman, pour revendiquer le droit à l'errance, aux nuits à la belle étoile, aux rencontres et à l'imprévu.
De onderaardsen
- 154pagine
- 6 ore di lettura


































































