Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac (John Kerouac) , 1922-69, American novelist, b. Lowell, Mass., studied at Columbia. One of the leaders of the beat generation , a term he is said to have coined, he was the author of the largely autobiographical novel On the Road (1957), widely considered the testament of the beat movement. Frequently employing idiosyncratically lyrical language, Kerouac's writings reflect a frenetic, restless pursuit of new sensation and experience and a disdain for the conventional measures of economic and social success. Among his other works are the novels The Subterraneans (1958), The Dharma Bums (1958), Big Sur (1962), and Desolation Angels (1965); a volume of poetry, Mexico City Blues (1959); and a volume describing his dreams, Book of Dreams (1961). By the time he died of complications of alcoholism he had written more than 25 books.

Bibliography: See A. Charters, ed., Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters, 1940-1956 (1995) and Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters, 1957-1969 (1999); D. Brinkley, ed., Windblown World: The Journals of Jack Kerouac, 1947-1954 (2004); H. Cunnell, ed., On the Road: The Original Scroll (2007); biographies by A. Charters (1973), B. Gifford and L. Lee (1978, repr. 1994), D. McNally (1980), G. Nicosia (1988), and B. Miles (1998); studies by T. Hunt (1981), R. Weinreich (1986), I. Gewirtz (2007), J. Leland (2007), and P. Maher, Jr. (2007).