Biography
Jack Kerouac
Collected
Works
Sample
Poems
Inspired
Poems
Original
Poems
Bibliography
Presentation by Nolan Clark
Biography
The Life and Times of the Unforgettable Jack Kerouac
Biography
Collected
Works
Sample
Poems
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Poems
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“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk,
mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or
say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles”
(Biography.com 3).
Jack Kerouac, the speaker of this quote, was a mad man who lived his life as
fast as he scribbled down his poems. He began his non-stop roller coaster of a life on
March 12, 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Jack was not his original name though, rather
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac. Being that he was of French-Canadian decent, he was
raised with traditional Catholic morals and did not speak English until year 5 of his life
(Encyclopedia of World Biography 1). He instead spoke a local dialect in which French
and English were combined into one, called Joual. All did not go well in Kerouac’s
childhood. He suffered major heartbreak when his older brother Gerard died at the age
of 9 from rheumatic fever. Soon after, his father, a well-known small businessman and
printer, began undergoing financial difficulties. He turned to gambling and alcoholism in
a bout of hopelessness, possibly explaining his son’s year’s of depression to come
(Asher 1). Despite these troubles, Kerouac kept interest in football and literature. He
was a star player in high school and even began writing fictional novels of horse races,
football, and baseball games by age 11. Though by far the most influence Kerouac
received in his lifetime was from traveling. He wrote stories of his adventures in WWII,
traveling all throughout America, and hanging out in New York City, which became his
home for most of his short-lived life. Through these times he developed severe
alcoholism and suffered a nervous breakdown. He died of mass stomach bleeding on
October 21, 1969 at age 47 (Encyclopedia of World Biography 2).
Biography (cont)
Biography
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Kerouac received a full-ride football scholarship to Columbia University in
New York City. However, he broke his leg the 2nd game of the season giving him time to
pursue his number one passion: literature. He began cutting class and studying the style
of Thomas Wolfe. After an argument with the football coach in 1941, Kerouac left school
for good (Encyclopedia of World Biography 2). He began meeting new people such as
Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Gary Snyder, and Neal Cassady, who probably was
the most influential character in Kerouac’s life. After embarking on a several-year-long,
cross-country adventure with Cassady, Kerouac attempted to write a story of it to no
avail. He could not find the correct style in which to write and quit trying altogether in a fit
of frustration. Within 5 years after giving up, Cassady inspired Kerouac by sending him
letters of encouragement in the mail. Kerouac enjoyed Cassady’s style, described as a
“rush of mad ecstasy, without self-consciousness or mental hesitation,” and decided to
give his book another swing using this newly acquired style of “unpretentious,
spontaneous prose” (Essortment.com 2). The result was a book titled On the Road and
was an instant success, being written in a mere few weeks on a 120 foot long piece of
paper. It was, quite simply, a hardly fictionalized account of the many road trips taken by
Kerouac and Cassady, packed full of sex, jazz, and drugs (Biography.com 1). The Town
and City was Kerouac’s first novel which did not make him famous, but got his name into
the ears of the underground poetry scene nonetheless. Instant underground fame did
not take to Kerouac well. He felt the need to live up to his On the Road image which was
the beginning of a severe drinking problem, in turn aging him prematurely. His passion
never wavered though, for he wrote as he lived, and he lived as he wrote (Asher 3).
Biography (cont)
Biography
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Jack Kerouac and his poet friends were the founders of the Beat movement
in the 1940’s. The Beats wrote in a “drug-induced stream of consciousness” and
believed that if they altered or edited their poems, they would heavily dilute the
spontaneous effect in which they craved (Essortment.com 2). Kerouac thus began
experimenting with more natural forms of writing where he would not stop to edit, falsify,
or even think; a style which he borrowed off his friend Cassady. Though the Beat
generation was indeed a fad, Kerouac knew his work was not, a fact which justifyed his
overwhelmingly hurt feelings when critics would ridicule his work, saying they could not
take such a style seriously. His unhappiness was displayed plainly in his work, furthering
the critics’ inability to take this man’s work seriously (Asher 2). Kerouac’s belief was,
“with movement comes wisdom and meaning;” a statement proved true by the short,
quick stanzas of his works. Though short and quick they may have been, that did not
take away from their power; it simply meant he was able to squeeze the concentration of
the writings down even more so than the average poet. As a spokesperson for the Beat
Generation, he was adorned by all young people of the 1950’s and ‘60’s; showing up
drunk in public, and turning interviews into arguments (Encyclopedia of World Biography
3). It has been over 4 decades since the death of Jack Kerouac, yet he still manages to
capture the imagination of the rebellious and standoffish youth of even today. Easily one
of America’s most enduring novels ever written, On the Road continues to inspire today’s
“hipsters” with the same power and clarity it delivered back in 1957 (Biography.com 3).
Collected Works
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Visions of Gerard
• Desolation Angels
• Satori in Paris
• Vanity of Duluoz
On the Road
• Scattered Poems
The Subterraneans
• Old Angel Midnight
The Dharma Bums
• Trip Trap
• Heaven & Other Poems
Doctor Sax
• San Francisco Blues
Maggie Cassidy
• Pomes All Sizes
Mexico City Blues
• Good Blonde and Others
Book of Dreams
• Book of Blues 1995
Tristessa
• Some of the Dharma
• Atop an Underwood
Visions of Cody
• Orpheus Emerged
The Scripture of the Golden
Eternity
Lonesome Traveler
Pull My Daisy
Big Sur
The Town and the City
Sample Poem
Bus East
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Society has good intentions Bureaucracy is like a friend
5 years ago - other furies other losses America's
trying to control the uncontrollable Forest fires, Vice
The essential smile In the essential sleep Of the children Of the essential mind
I'm
all thru playing the American
Now I'm going to live a good quiet life
The
world should be built for foot walkers
Oily
rivers Of spiney Nevady
I
am Jake Cake
Rake
Write like Blake
The
horse is not pleased Sight of his
gorgeous finery
in the dust Its silken
nostrils
did disgust
Sample Poem (cont)
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Cats
arent kind Kiddies anent sweet
April
in Nevada - Investigating Dismal Cheyenne Where the war parties
In fields
of straw
Aimed over oxen At Indian Chiefs
In wild headdress Pouring thru
the gap
In Wyoming plain
To make the settlers
Eat more dust than dust
was eaten In the States From East at Seacoast Where wagons made up To dreadful
Plains
Of clazer vup
Saltry
settlers
Analysis
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A great, memorable poem about Jack Kerouac’s many travels is “Bus East” in which
he uses a few different minor poetic elements such as the pun and assonance but mostly just
uses a free verse style. The main theme of this poem is living the “simple life.” Kerouac believes
society has good intentions, but America is simply trying to control things it has no control over.
“Society has good intentions Bureaucracy is like a friend/ 5 years ago – other furies other losses / America’s/ trying to control the uncontrollable Forest fires, Vice.” America is having no avail
with its attempts, and is getting out of hand with its actions. They have fought the Native
Americans out of their land and thus have eaten “more dust than dust.” He wants to settle
down and live a simple life, possibly in the expansive plains of Wyoming. “I’m/ all thru playing
the American/ Now I’m going to live a good quiet life/ The/ world should be built for foot
walkers.” Traveling by foot simplifies much of life while complicating it at the same time, but
Kerouac is more so talking about walking, feeling, exploring, and appreciating nature for all its
natural glory. An example is given when he speaks of a horse and how his master does not
appreciate the majestic beauty of it, “The/ horse is not pleased Sight of his/ gorgeous finery/ in
the dust Its silken/ nostrils/ did disgust.” A few of the more comedic lines include “I/ am Jake
Cake/ Rake/ Write like Blake” and “Cats/ aren’t kind Kiddies aren’t sweet” where he explores
using some assonance and fiddles with a play on words between Kitties and Kiddies. He must
not enjoy cats or children, one is bound to assume. These two tidbits help to keep the poem
upbeat and not drag onward as a pulling of teeth would. Kerouac remains true to his reputation
as the leader of the Beat Generation when he wraps up the poem with… well, it is there on the
end of the previous page if one desires to reread it, for “The Man” is censoring it from being
quoted on this page.
Sample
Poem
Although I’m not exactly a man of Buddha, I do believe this poem to speak
the truth. People who are not good to others or themselves throughout their lives have
the same coming right back in their faces sometime in their lives. On the other hand,
men who perform good deeds will have karma “Of dove.” I enjoy this poem because no
matter what world views anyone has, they can surely agree with what is being stated in
this work.
Biography
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2nd Chorus Mexico City Blues by Jack Kerouac
Man in the Middle
Is not Worried
He knows his Karma
Is not buried
But his Karma,
Unknown to him,
May end Which is Nirvana
Wild Men
Who Kill
Have Karmas
Of ill
Good Men
Who Love
Have Karmas
Of dove
Snakes are Poor Denizens of Hell
Have come surreptitioning
Through the tall grass
To face the pool of clear frogs
Sample Poem
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This is a very interesting poem. It genuinely shows Kerouac’s style of “on the
road” genre poetry. It sounds like he is giving himself a self-evaluation as to why he isn’t
getting picked up by any cars while he is hitchhiking to California. Then it hits him (using
the onomatopoeia Boom): it is his unappealing rain jacket that is fending off any possible
drivers. He even goes as far as predicting what people are saying about him as they
drive past him. Pinpoint comparisons are made as well when talking about his image.
Hitchhiker by Jack Kerouac
'Tryna get to sunny Californy' Boom. It's the awful raincoat
making me look like a selfdefeated self-murdering imaginary gangster, an idiot in a rueful
coat, how can they understand my damp packs - my mud packs “Look John, a hitchhiker'
“He looks like he's got a gun underneath that I. R. A. coat'
'Look Fred, that man by the road' “Some sexfiend got in print in 1938 in Sex Magazine' –
“You found his blue corpse in a greenshade edition, with axe blots'
In Vain by Jack Kerouac
En Vain by Nolan Clark, Inspired by In Vain by
Jack Kerouac
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The stars in the sky
In vain
The tragedy of Hamlet
In vain
The key in the lock
In vain
The sleeping mother
In vain
The lamp in the corner
In vain
The lamp in the corner unlit
In vain
Abraham Lincoln
In vain
The Aztec empire
In vain
The writing hand: in vain
(The shoetrees in the shoes
In vain
The windowshade string upon
the hand bible
In vain—
The glitter of the greenglass
ashtray
In vain
The bear in the woods
In vain
The Life of Buddha
In vain)
The stars in your eyes
In vain
The tragedy of Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson
In vain
The password in the type box
In vain
The working father
In vain
The car in the garage
In vain
The car in the garage plugged-in
In vain
Nelson Mandela
In vain
The United States of America
In vain
The typing hand: In vain
(The Smurfs in the mushrooms
In vain
The scrollbar up the side
of a webpage
In vainThe shine of the blueglass
bottle
In vain
The rabbit in the field
In vain
The life of Muhammad
In vain)
How to Meditate by Jack Kerouac
Biography
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-lights outfall, hands a-clasped, into instantaneous
ecstasy like a shot of heroin or morphine,
the gland inside of my brain discharging
the good glad fluid (Holy Fluid) as
i hap-down and hold all my body parts
down to a deadstop trance-Healing
all my sicknesses-erasing all-not
even the shred of a 'I-hope-you' or a
Loony Balloon left in it, but the mind
blank, serene, thoughtless. When a thought
comes a-springing from afar with its heldforth figure of image, you spoof it out,
you spuff it off, you fake it, and
it fades, and thought never comes-and
with joy you realize for the first time
'thinking's just like not thinkingSo I don't have to think
any
more
The Nightly Routine by Nolan Clark,
Inspired by How to Meditate by Jack Kerouac
-lights outFall, arms a-wide, into immediate
satisfaction like a pat on the back or high-five,
the eyelids closing,
the brain shutting down as
I relax every muscle – letting go
of all troubles brought on by the daygetting rid of – throwing out –
not even a ‘I-need-to’ or an
outlandish thought in sight, for the mind is left
tranquil, filled with emptiness, gone. Any
thought
attempts prying open the gates with
its shifty, insidious manners
security is called to banish,
boof, muff, poof it away.
And away it goes, never turning back
to see what could’ve been.
Oh so fresh, the first realization checkpoint is
reached:
Thoughtless thoughts are not thoughts in the
slightest
they are merely
restraints
of serenity
Original work
The Mysterious Beaut of a Precious Resource by Nolan Clark
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The sea roars as a chorus; raining, flailing…
The tide flings itself mournfully into the deep
Forever it is intense, a never-ending wild.
A craving for deluge reconciles with a narrow frolic,
With romantic leisure, eclipsing stony streams.
Quantities of coldness warshing all about, yet
Burning deeply, unknowingly falling into a fragile sleep.
All who witness are lulled ‘til hearts
Murmur softly, lungs vacuuming steadily.
Very neat indeed,
Though never to be tamed, ‘tis
Magnificent.
Original work
Tongue, Metal, and a Cold Winter’s Day by Nolan Clark
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Strange happenings have triggered our meetingIt would take unimaginable ones to tear us apart;
Like rubber cement in a children’s book,
Or a penny gummed to the floor
In order to form a fool out of a frugal passerby,
I find myself stuck unto you.
Black and white accompanied by shades of grey is all I saw,
Until you cannonballed right into a pool of rainbow
[Because diving is less hardcore a’course ].
Whilst I twiddled my thumbs in the Splash Zone
You engulfed me in a tidal wave of color, kiddo.
An unconventional collaboration, masterpiece, of energy and spontaneity;
My love for you is quite frankly as expansive
As the flood waters knocking on your neighbors’ doors.
I must say, yer so swell to have around.
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http://www.notablebiographies.com/Jo-Ki/Kerouac-Jack.html
http://www.beatmuseum.org/kerouac/jackkerouac.html
http://www.essortment.com/jack-kerouac-biography-20773.html
http://www.biography.com/articles/Jack-Kerouac-9363719?part=0
http://www.biblio.com/jack-kerouac~103337~author
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19163
http://poemhunter.com/
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http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/9267079/2/istockphoto_926707
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