Jack Kerouac

Biography of Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) was born Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac on March 12, 1922, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He was born to French Canadian parents and spoke mainly French in his childhood. When Kerouac was four years old his older brother, Gerard, died of rheumatic fever which affected Kerouac for the rest of his life.

Kerouac was also deeply influenced by his mother's faith. She was Catholic and made sure her sons also had a deep sense of faith. Kerouac learned English at the age of six and the majority of his literary works later in life were written in English.

While in high school, Kerouac proved to be a talented football player and was offered a scholarship to Columbia University. While in high school he became friends with Seymour Wyse who he credits with introducing him to a type of jazz known as Bebop, or Bop. While at Columbia, Kerouac broke his leg while playing football and so he wrote many articles about sports for the Columbia Daily Spectator, a student newspaper. Not long after his injury, Kerouac dropped out of Columbia University and lived on the Upper West Side of New York City with his future wife, Edie Parker. Here he met many important literary figures such as Allen Ginsburg, Neal Cassady, and Lucien Carr who were central to the Beat Generation literary movement.

Kerouac met many Beat Generation authors in New York's Upper West Side. Pixabay.

In 1942, between July and October, Kerouac served as a US merchant marine on the SS Dorchester. During this time he wrote his first book, The Sea is My Brother (2011), which wasn't published until 2011. By 1943, Kerouac had joined the US Navy Reserves. However, his military career didn't last long. Eight days into active duty, Kerouac was transferred to the sick list and was honorably discharged for psychiatric reasons.

Kerouac's friend, Lucien Carr stabbed David Kammerer, an aggressive and obsessive stalker. During the trial, after Carr turned himself in, Kerouac served as a material witness. Kerouac helped dispose of the weapon which led to his arrest. Kerouac had to be bailed out by his girlfriend Edie Parker's parents only because she agreed to marry him. This experience inspired two novels by Kerouac, And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (Published posthumously in 2008) and Vanity of Duluoz (1968).

Kerouac's marriage was annulled in 1948, and he moved in with his parents in Queens, New York. He wrote his first published book in 1949 called The Town and the City (1950), which did not sell very well. It was also during this time that Kerouac began writing, On the Road (1957), which would become one of his most famous books.

Due to the graphic, sexual, and taboo content of On the Road, Kerouac had a hard time finding a publisher. To earn money he worked as a railroad brakeman, which required him to travel between the East and West coasts quite often. In 1951, his pregnant wife divorced him, and in 1953, Kerouac began an affair with a woman who became the inspiration for the character of Mardou in his novella, The Subterraneans (1958).

During the mid to late 1950s, Kerouac traveled often throughout the United States and Mexico, struggling with bouts of depression and heavy drinking. He also wrote ten drafts of books he would later publish. In 1954, Kerouac discovered Buddhism and studied it quite heavily, writing two books: Some of the Dharma (1997) and Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha (2009).

Kerouac spent many years studying Buddhism. Pixabay.

Kerouac was also heavily criticized politically. Left-leaning political groups disagreed with his anti-communist views, Catholicism, and support of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Right-leaning political groups disagreed with his drug use and sexual liberalism. His political nature fueled many of his writings which are what made him such a prolific, and important Beat Generation writer.

Kerouac was living in Orlando, Florida when a 1957 review of On the Road in The New York Times proclaimed Kerouac as the voice of a new generation in America. From that moment on, Kerouac enjoyed fame. He began writing Dharma Bums (1958) and published it in 1958. However, Dharma Bums was heavily criticized by many Buddhist-American thinkers.

Kerouac, despite belonging to the counterculture of the 1950s and 1960s, heavily criticized the counterculture, stating over and over that he was Catholic.

The Death of Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was living in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1969. On October 20, 1969, Kerouac was in his father's print shop when he began to vomit blood. He was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with an esophageal hemorrhage, which is when blood flow to the liver is obstructed. Kerouac received an emergency operation but never woke up. He died of complications with cirrhosis which was caused by his heavy drinking.

Works by Jack Kerouac with Quotes

Jack Kerouac was a prolific author, writing many books and poems. Below are his most famous pieces.

Books by Jack Kerouac

Kerouac wrote many books over his lifetime. Pixabay.

Jack Kerouac is most well known for his books, On the Road (1957), The Dharma Bums (1958), and Big Sur (1962).

On the Road

Jack Kerouac used many of his own stories of travel and adventures with his friends in his novel On the Road. The story follows the travels of Sal Paradise as he crosses America in the aftermath of WWII. Paradise is intrigued by his friend Dean Moriarity who motivates Paradise's crazy adventures. The book is set against a backdrop of counterculture including jazz, drugs, and sexual experimentation. The book explores themes such as the search for freedom and the search for meaning in life.

Dharma Bums

Dharma Bums was written during a period in Kerouac's life when he was discovering Buddhism and heavily studying it. It follows the growing friendship between Smith and Ryder. Smith is struggling with the emptiness he feels in the American middle-class way of living, which has caused him great spiritual conflict and turmoil. He befriends Ryder who he sees as a spiritual model. Dharma Bums explores themes of enlightenment, freedom, and friendship.

Big Sur

Kerouac's 1962 book is partially autobiographical and follows his alter ego, Jack Duluoz. Duluoz begins to feel overwhelmed by his success and finds it hard to cope. The story follows him as he alternates between alcohol-fueled wildness in San Francisco and peace and serenity in an isolated cabin on the coast of California. There he attempts to clear his mind and spirit. The book contains themes such as madness and transformation, isolation, and spirituality.

The Poems of Jack Kerouac

As well as being an author of books, Kerouac also wrote quite a lot of poetry. His poetry was heavily influenced by Jazz, Blues, Catholicism, and Buddhism. He even invented the American Haiku which consists of three lines rather than the traditional five lines. He did not want his poetry to feel restrictive, but rather for it to flow spontaneously.

Here is a list of some of Kerouac's poems:

• "10th Chorus Mexico City Blues" (1959)
• "241st Chorus" (1959)
• "Bus East" (1954)
• "Haiku (Birds singing...)" (2003)

Genre and Writing Style of Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac belongs to the Beat Generation literary movement that infused their counterculture writing with politics and taboo subjects. Kerouac, as well as other Beat Generation writers, were inspired by Jazz, Bebop, and improvisation. Kerouac also used his Catholic and Buddhist beliefs to inspire his writing.

There are a few key characteristics of Kerouac's writing style that make his writing unique. He even wrote a list of 30 essential writing tips that even Ginsburg used to write his poem, "Howl" (1956).

Spontaneous Prose

Kerouac considered his writing as spontaneous prose which means that he wrote undisturbed. He simply let his mind babble onto the typewriter without interruption, even if the writing became chaotic and wild. It was the idea that one had to be submissive to their writing and allow ideas to form freely. Kerouac was also known for scribbling on notebook papers to get his ideas down.

Breath and Improvisation

Taken from the concept of breathing in Jazz and meditative breathing in Buddhism, Kerouac would sometimes eliminate the need for a period. Instead, he would insert an em dash which would provide a quick breath tempo.

The function of the words between the dashes is to resemble improvisation and spontaneity of thought.

Removal of Emphasis on Grammar and Syntax

Kerouac believed that writing should focus less on carefully constructed grammatical and syntactical rules and focus more on free-flowing, uninterrupted thought. Writing, according to Kerouac, should be based on an internal monologue the author makes external on the page without too much concern for any literary mistakes that may come from it.