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August 28, 2008 4:33:13 AM CDT

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Kerouac Was Klutzy Fatalist, Tragic Goofball

Posted Sep 5, 07 12:19 PM CDT in Arts & Living,  US 

(Newser) – For today’s 50th anniversary of On the Road’s publication, Slate canvassed some of Jack Kerouac’s associates, creating a dramatic and nostalgic picture. The poet’s agent remembers he was thrown for a loop by the “demon” of “public reaction, celebrity,” and Carolyn Cassady recalls him as “a hunk, a football star, and a klutz.”

Kerouac was dismayed that hippies thought “he was giving them carte blanche to be selfish,” says Cassady, and that cultural turn inspired his vow to drink himself to death. Lawrence Ferlinghetti says Kerouac channels nostalgia for the road, which “doesn’t exist anymore.” The writer knew that open spirit was fading, Ferlinghetti suspects, and it drove home his personal tragedy.

Source Slate

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USA. New York City. 1953. American writer Jack KEROUAC. (NYC23573)   (Magnum Photos)
Jack Kerouac   (Archive Photos)
USA. New York City. 1959. Writer Jack KEROUAC shows affection to an admirer at Seven Arts Cafe. (NYC25503)   (Magnum Photos)
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literature  • anniversary  • Jack Kerouac  • hippies  • On the Road  • beatniks


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