Jack's Book: An Oral Biography of Jack Kerouac - Softcover

Gifford, Barry; Lee, Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014312188X ISBN 13: 9780143121886

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2012

Synopsis

Here, in what has become a classic of its kind since its publication in 1978, is the fascinating story of an American literary legend, recorded through the voices of the friends and lovers of Jack Kerouac, "King of the Beats." 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 Kerouac. All have contributed to a remarkably vibrant, riveting portrait of a life.

About this title

Review:

"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"A fascinating literary and historical document, the most insightful look at the beat generation."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

About the Author:

Barry Gifford is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, and librettist best known for the novel Wild at Heart, which was adapted into an award-winning film by David Lynch, and for cowriting the screenplay for Lynch's film Lost Highway. Published in twenty-eight languages, he has been the recipient of awards from PEN, the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Library Association, and the Writers Guild of America. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lawrence Lee (d. 1990) was a Peabody Award-winning journalist who cowrote the acclaimed biography Saroyan with Gifford.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 014312188X
• ISBN 13: 9780143121886
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368