Subterraneans (Kerouac, Jack) - Softcover

Kerouac, Jack

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802131867 ISBN 13: 9780802131867

Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press, 1994

Synopsis

Written over the course of three days and three nights, "The Subterraneans" was generated out of the same kind of ecstatic flash of inspiration that produced another one of Kerouac's early classics, "On the Road." Centering around the tempestuous brekup of Leo Percepied and Mardou Fox -- two denizens of the 1950s San Francisco underground -- "The Subterraneans is a tale of dark alleys and smoky rooms, of artists, visionaries, and adventurers existing outside mainstream America's field of vision.

About this title

Review:

"The first clear development of the American Romantic prose since Hemingway, Kerouac's writing is full of mad sex, comedy, widescreen travel writing, and long lyrical evocations of American childhood and adolescent memories."--The Times (London)

"Kerouac's work represents the most extensive experiment in language and literary form undertaken by an American writer of his generation."--Ann Douglas

"Each book by Kerouac is unique, a telepathic discord. Such rich, natural writing is nonpareil in the later twentieth century."--Allen Ginsberg

"An outsider in America, Jack Kerouac was a true original."--Ann Charters

From the Back Cover:

'THE SUBTERRANEANS' WITH A PREFACE BY HENRY MILLER

'THEY ARE HIP WITHOUT BEING SLICK, THEY ARE INTELLIGENT WITHOUT BEING CORNY, THEY ARE INTELLECTUAL AS HELL WITHOUT BEING PRETENTIOUS, THEY ARE VERY QUIET, THEY ARE VERY CHRISTLIKE.'

The Subterraneans haunt the bars and clubs of San Francisco, surviving on a diet of booze and benzedrine, Proust and Verlaine. Living amongst them is Leo, an aspiring writer, and Mardou, half-Indian, half-Negro, beautiful and neurotic. Their bitter-sweet and ill-starred love affair sees Kerouac at his most evocative.

“Some say 'The Subterraneans' is Kerouac's best novel, it's so touching and tender. The love story of Leo and Mardou, sad and sweet, furious, implacable, inevitable – many writers have since tried to imitate it and failed.”
SUNDAY TIMES

'PIC'

On the road but not yet overawed, ten-year-old Pic tells his story in the beautiful Negro dialect of the North Carolina farm country. Concise, original and moving, it stands as one of Kerouac's finest achievements.

“Kerouac's energy is contagious, his compassion and concern are the genuine homespun article.”
GUARDIAN

Many of Kerouac's works are available in Flamingo, including 'Big Sur, Doctor Sax' and 'Lonesome Traveler'.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0802131867
• ISBN 13: 9780802131867
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 152