BUREAU BOOKS: Jack KEROUAC
The Letters of Jack KEROUAC / Readers List: Part One
When the legend looms larger than the artistic expression, be it, Art, Music, Dance, or in this case Literature, 'Huston, we have a problem', as the saying goes. With Jack Kerouac, and say, Shakespeare this is one of the obstacles. Kerouac was a very real person. Just a guy, a very regular dude, who loved sports, reading the newspapers, cats, girls, America and having some fun. As many people know, he also loved Jazz, Cars, Artists & historical facts. His opus is On The Road. But there is so much more in the canon. For beginners it is always safe to start at the beginning with The Town and The City. There are also great everyday musings in The Selected Letters Volume One and Two.
These are actually my favorites because The LETTERS document the highs and lows, the everyday hustle and bustle, the championships and the defeats, the fights among outsiders and his brawls and fallouts with many of his pals such as Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Gary Snyder, Carl Soloman, Malcolm Cowley, John Clellon Holmes, Phillip Whalen, Peter Orlovsky and of course his extremely important relationship with Neil Cassady and Cassidy's extended families. Edited by Ann Charters at Penguin Books. Also by Ann Charters is The Portable Beat Reader on Penguin &The Portable Jack Kerouac. Both are fine reading and good gifts for someone curious about beats. We were so impressed with these letters, obsessed really, that it led to creating two feature films with thirty different directors each interpreting their own take on the Letters of artistic individuals. LETTERS of The Underground Volume One in 2002, Volume Two in 2007. Both film projects were created in connection with a non profit film festival's experimental director's program.
Letters are such an intimate and wonderful lost art. Many people have no idea how important the letter is and has been for writers. John Steinbeck wrote a daily letter to his Agent and or Publisher as a warmer - upper, describing the chapters he was working on for East of Eden. When he felt that the oven of creativity was preheated, he tossed in a clean sheet of paper and began the arduous work of creating the work of that day. The letter is often the work out / stretching session prior to the run.
In the case of Jack Kerouac, it is also a chance to realize how messy & challenging life as an artist can be. Many of his letters to Sterling Lord, his agent, are very helpful for those intending to learn about how things were, back in the day. We also suggest, Good Blonde & Others on Grey Fox press. Its got some very basic, everyday musings that will surprise even the more conservative readers. Lots of nuggets on writers, essays to newspapers, observations, essays on writing, on sports, on the Beats and On The Road. The book is edited by Donald Allen with an Introduction by Robert Creeley.
Also out, more recently, is the Original Scroll of Kerouac's pinnacle, On The Road on Viking Press . We picked up a copy recently and plan diving into it soon. It is an unedited first draft of the opus work. The inside jacket sleeve explains that this new unedited version is, ' … rougher, wilder and more sexually explicit than the published version. Oh my, It looks to be a very interesting Spring.
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