jack kerouac's american journey: the real life odyssy of "on the road" book review

i will read just about anything on the beat generation, specifically material on jack kerouac or allen ginsberg. "jack kerouac's american journey: the real-life odyssey of on the road,"by paul maher, jr., caught my attention for two reasons. first, the author had already written a full-length kerouac biography, "kerouac: the definitive biography," which i read - and would recommend without reservation. he also published, "empty phantoms: interviews and encounters with kerouac," which is on my bookshelf, but i haven't read it yet. so maher certainly has the bona fides to write about kerouac!

and, second, i picked it up at the strand annex at 50% off as part of it's going out of business clearance sale. even with the substantial price discount, this book was a disappointment. it was carelessly put together and contained too many FACTUAL errors, in addition to simple typos, to ignore. early on, maher incorrectly refers to the unpublished manuscript, "and the hippos were boiled in their tanks," by it's earlier and REJECTED title. "i wish i were you: the philip tourian story!" this work, co-written with william s. burroughs (they each, in turn, wrote alternating chapters) covered the murder of david kammerer by lucien carr. that mistake was so glaring that i repeatedly had to reread the sentence in an effort to figure out what maher could have been up to?!

then there were the comical ones. when neal cassady was expecting his FIRST child, maher wrote he was expecting his FIFTH child. while cassady may have fathered five children, there are only three he had with carolyn cassady and one with diane hansen. this was, i hope, a simple typo. but glaring mistakes like these seriously undermine confidence in this book.

substantively, maher recounts the real genesis of on the road: the multi-year process of road trips and the various efforts kerouac made recording them and, then, slowly molding the raw material into what would become "on the road." while the myth that "on the road" was written in one long benzedrine high still has legs, no serious kerouac fan (much less, scholar) take it seriously.

skip this book. instead, read the "road chapters" of ANY kerouac biography (even maher's own) and it will be a much more rewarding experience.

check out paul maher's "on the road: the original scroll"

next up: back to running - haruki murkami, "what i talk about when i talk about running," has finally been released!

kerouac exhibit, continued

in part one of this post i mentioned the striking visual components of the exhibit, notably the kerouac artwork on public display for the first time. in addition, the many familiar photos of kerouac and his friends (often included in the books about kerouac and the beats) were powerful visuals - framed and free of the limitations of reproduction in books. and the unrolled scroll itself, an imposing visual as it immediately confronts visitors to the exhibit. it physically dominated the exhibit hall space as the scroll spanned the length of the gallery!

but the impact of kerouac's written work can't be missed. the title, "beatific soul," captures the meaning that "beat" took in kerouac's mind. he didn't use it to connote "down and out," the traditional meaning. instead, kerouac gave it a spiritual dimension when he insisted that it meant "beatitude." he made repeated allusions to the b-attitudes and christ's sermon on the mount to flesh out his positive, upbeat, interpretation of the term. he viewed with increasing sadness, the reversion back to the "down and out" usage, as the beat generation took off in popular culture.

kerouac's poetry and prose from the 50s also reflected significant buddhist influences that he absorbed as a result of all the eastern philosophy and scripture he immersed himself in. during that period he wrote the sutra, "the scripture of the golden eternity" collected his voluminous study materials in book form as "some of the dharma," and published, perhaps his second most popular book after "on the road," - the dharma bums.

sadly, the 60s witnessed a jack kerouac that spiraled uncontrollably downward into alcoholism. still, on the eve of his alcohol fueled death, kerouac produced meaningful work - such as "vanity of dulouz."

even without the original scroll, this isn't something to miss. if you find yourself anywhere near midtown before march 16 - go check it out! and it's free.

jack kerouac exhibit at the new york public library

i almost skipped the show entirely when i found out the original scroll was no longer on exhibit. it had been replaced with an exact replica! i didn't understand why the major attraction would be removed before the completion of the exhibit's stay at the library.

but i'm glad i did go. what took me by surprise was the sheer number and diversity of kerouac's artwork. i'm not referring to his written work, but rather his paintings, sketches, pastels, drawings, doodles and the sheer volume of marginalia that covered his journals! this was an unknown side of kerouac. his the range of artwork stretched from simple color exercises, pen and ink drawings, and oil paints. his output included abstract renderings, portraits and religious iconography! two pieces in particular, "the drinkers" in oils, and a black and white drawing of buddha's head, were remarkable!

add to this all the photographs on display, many of which were taken by allen ginsberg, visitors were treated to such a visual feast that it was easy to forget that kerouac was a writer, first and foremost. that is until your eyes returned to the scroll that was unrolled on a display table that ran down the length of the exhibit hall. it was yet another visually striking image, in a room that overflowed with them.

of all the kerouac's personal belongings put out on display, what really sent it over the top was a half empty pack of wrigley's chewing gum resting in a display case next to his harmonica, glasses and miscellaneous bits of paper that came out of his wallet. i can't imagine what possessed someone to hold on to that gum for 40 years!

continue on to part two of this post.

six more miles...

today the soreness showed up as expected and, midday, so did the rain. i was relieved to have gotten in that 6 mile run yesterday. as a consequence, there really wasn't any pressure to go outside and run today. but as the late afternoon turned into early evening and the rain stopped, that little voice inside of me started in with, "so why don't you get in a few easy miles after being cooped up in the house all this time?"

"all that time" amounted to a whopping two hours, a good portion of which was devoted to putting dinner together for my daughter and me. since the only real soreness i felt was in my calves, i took two advil to deal with it. then i impatiently waited the bare minimum for my dinner to partially digest before grabbing my ipod and hitting the streets. i probably would have been better served taking a day off. but i had a good rationalization: wednesday was my teaching day for the spring semester and i wouldn't be home until after nine.

this dilemma repeats itself almost every spring semester, when i usually teach an evening class once a week. on that day my only real option are to run before work or run when i get home. since i can't drag myself outside at 5 a.m. during the winter, i have to run when i get home. i just schedule my recovery day to coincide with my class schedule during that stretch. but, if push comes to shove, i get out and run the miles at 9:30 or later. if i ran tonight, could take tomorrow off without remorse.

i ran the 6 miles, in wet, humid conditions, in 47:14 - a 7:52 pace. the surprise was that it was 30 seconds faster than the 47:45, 7:57 pace from the day before. i was very pleased with the time. actually, i was pleased with the time on both days since these runs are part of what i consider "active recovery." i don't push the effort during these recovery runs, but my legs do benefit from the training effect.

tomorrow, on a non-running related tangent, hope to go see the jack kerouac exhibit at the new york public library. in my typical procrastinating way, realized the exhibit will only be there for another two weeks. kerouac is one of my favorite authors, and this exhibit first opened last fall, so it's about time i got over there to check it out!