Jack's Book: An Oral Biography of Jack Kerouac

by Barry Gifford, Lawrence Lee Narrated by Mauro Hantman

Overview

The classic and fascinating story of Jack Kerouac, “King of the Beats” and American literary legend, recorded through the voices of his friends and lovers. Authors Barry Gifford and Lawrence Lee retraced Kerouac's life at home and on the road and talked with the prophets, musicians, poets, socialites, and working people who knew him. Some are famous (Allen Ginsberg, Gore Vidal, William Burroughs); some are not (Jack's boyhood buddies, his lovers, his barroom companions). All have contributed to a remarkably vibrant, riveting portrait of a life. We see Jack at Columbia University and on the scene of Greenwich Village; speeding across the tarmac of America with Neal Cassidy (`Dan Moriarty' in Kerouac's classic novel, On the Road); at home with his possessive mother; in California, drinking wine and talking Buddhism; and finally, in Florida, where his life ends tragically at forty-seven years old. Jack's Book, like Kerouac's novels, makes a unique contribution to our understanding of a man and a generation that shaped the dreams and visions of those who followed.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Jack’s Book is first rate…it offers the flavor and depth of good fiction while keeping well within the realm of literal truth.”


“I suggest you read Jack’s Book…Mr. Gifford and Mr. Lee seem to have interviewed everyone connected with Kerouac.”
— Vincent Canby

“The greatest value of Jack’s Book…lies in the richness and depth…it is dynamic, mixing exceptionally well-written biography with oral journalism…it adds richness and depth to the previous portraits.”


“A fascinating literary and historical document, the most insightful look at the beat generation.”
— Dan Wakefield

“There have been biographies of Kerouac, but this is an entirely different and much more satisfying work…not a static portrait, but a slow-moving picture of a man unfolding from childhood to heartbreak end; a drama whose focus or clarity or completeness changes depending on who’s holding the camera.  An engrossing tale.”


“A very immediate, crisp addition to the Kerouac papers—lively in its interspliced rhythms and…compelling.”


“If you’re interested in listening to what the talk of the Fifties sounded like, and if you believe that literature may just have something to do with life, then read this book.”


“My God, it’s just like Rashomon.  Everybody lies and the truth comes out.”
— Allen Ginsberg

“To read Jack’s Book is to be present at a gathering of Kerouac’s friends, colleagues, lovers, even his…enemies—of all the lives of Kerouac I have read, this one has the most life.”
— James Campbell

“I consider Jack’s Book an essential text—it gives a far more authentic and balanced picture of Jack than any existing biography.”
— Joyce Johnson

OCTOBER 2012 - AudioFile

This classic oral biography of Jack Kerouac, the most well known of the Beat Poets, was originally published in 1978. This edition includes a new introductory essay by the surviving author Gifford, which provides additional insights into the subject and the authors’ methods of research. Through interviews with Kerouac’s famous and infamous friends and lovers, this patchwork quilt explores a life at home and on the road. Mauro Hantman’s narration is not well suited to this oral history. His calm, cultured voice offers essentially no characterization, a style that makes for a nondescript audiobook. Varied voices would have helped the listener better understand and recognize such luminaries as Gore Vidal, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs. This is an enlightening work that simply does not engage. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169689587
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	07/01/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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