Kerouac: The Definitive Biography

by Paul Maher

Overview

This authoritative biography of writer, poet, and beat generation icon Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) recounts in gripping detail the story of his exceptional life and the key relationships that affected Kerouac's development as an artist, including those with his three wives, numerous girlfriends, and beloved mother. Kerouac presents a fresh and more accurate account of the author of On the Road, one that neither ignores nor wallows in his flaws.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589796904
Publisher:	Taylor Trade Publishing
Publication date:	01/16/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	584
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Paul Maher Jr. is an independent scholar working on a biography of Henry David Thoreau and a study of Jack Kerouac in the 1940s. Maher lives in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, with his wife, Tina, and two girls, Chloe and Rachel.

Table of Contents

Preface     xi
Foreword   David Amram     xv
The Seeds of Galloway
The Kerouacs of Nashua: January 1720-1925     3
The Ethereal Flower: 1926-1933     18
"Wits Abound in Lowell Too": 1933-1935     29
Now a Flood Will Bring the Rest: Spring 1936     38
Order, Tenderness, and Piety: Fall 1936-Spring 1939     44
The Dawn of Jazz in America
Aloof from Teeming Humanity: Fall 1939-1940     61
A Kernel of Eternity: February-Summer 1941     75
The Furious Poet: Fall 1941     81
The Wound of Living: December 1941-Spring 1942     92
Among the Philistines: March 1943-November 1944     107
True Thoughts Abound: 1945-Spring 1948     131
Toward a New Vision: Summer-Fall 1948     154
Essence of Mind
What Kicks: January-February 1949     179
Back East: February-April 1949     187
Denver Doldrums: May-June 1949     198
Go Moan for Man: July 1949-Summer 1950     203
Shadow Changes into Bone: Fall 1950-Spring 1951     217
Beat Fellaheen: Summer 1951-Fall 1952     239
The Shrouded Traveler: Fall 1952-Fall 1953     260
Lake of Light: December 1953-April 1955     284
TheConsolidation of Fame
The Sage of Rocky Mount: July-December 1955     307
Passing Through: January-December 1956     322
Before the Fall: January-September 1957     334
Everything Exploded: September 1957-April 1958     355
Northport: May 1958-January 1959     374
Pull My Daisy: January-September 1959     389
"I Am the Flames": October 1959-October 1960     394
Ghostly Friend in God
The Sad Light of the Old Decade: October 1960-October 1962     413
Days of Autumn: Spring 1963-Summer 1964     435
The Ghost Hells of My Heart: Fall 1964-January 1967     444
The Golden Baby of Heaven: January 1967-October 1969     460
The Deluge     475
Acknowledgments     483
Fictional Names in the Novels of Jack Kerouac     487
Books That Comprise the Duluoz Legend     491
Notes     493
Selected Bibliography of Jack Kerouac's Work     521
Index     523
About the Author     557

Editorial Reviews

Maher succeeds on many levels and nails the advertised 'definitive biography.'

Charleston Post and Courier - Gene Sapakoff

Maher brings Kerouac to life as a fascinating but fallible man and artist who reflected and shaped his times. Like the many road trips Kerouac traveled, it's a worthy trip.

The Daily News

Thoroughly researched and worthy biography... Kerouac is an engaging mix of anecdote and archive.

Times Literary Supplement - Ron Butlin

Maher has unearthed a plethora of fascinating new information. He is, without question, one of the new leaders in interpreting the life of this literary legend whose reputation grows daily.

Douglas Brinkley

Maher takes a riveting look at the forces that shaped Kerouac's developement into the original hipster artist.

Smoke

Fit testimony to a tumultuous life.

The Greenville News - Bob Trimble

Tune in, all you desolation angels and dharma bums, and turn on to Paul Maher's jazzy bio of Kerouac

Vanity Fair

Thoroughly researched and worthy biography... Kerouac is an engaging mix of anecdote and archive.
— Ron Butlin

Times Literary Supplement

Fit testimony to a tumultuous life.
— Trimble, Bob

The Greenville News