Jack Kerouac
author profile
born
March 12, 1922
died
October 21, 1969
gender
male
place of birth
Lowell, Massachusetts, The United States
genre
Literature & Fiction, Poetry
influences
Jack London, James Joyce, Mark Twain, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
about this author
Jack Kerouac (March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) was an American novelist, writer, poet, and artist. He is perhaps the best known of a group of writers and friends who came to be known as the Beat Generation, a term he himself created.
Kerouac's work was popular, but received little critical acclaim during his lifetime. Today, he is considered an important and influential writer who inspired others, including Tom Robbins, Lester Bangs, Richard Brautigan, and Ken Kesey, and writers of the New Journalism. Kerouac also influenced musicians such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Morrissey, Tom Waits, Simon & Garfunkel, Lebris, Ulf Lundell and Jim Morrison.[1] Kerouac's best-known books are On the Road, The Dharma Bums, Big Sur, and Vision...more
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avg rating: 3.73
| 59,957 ratings
| 4,881 reviews
| 94 distinct works
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165 fans
More books by Jack Kerouac…
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On the Road by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.68 — 26,177 ratings — published 1957 83 editions |
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The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.96 — 7,486 ratings — published 1958 33 editions |
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Big Sur by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.77 — 2,521 ratings — published 1962 17 editions |
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The Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.66 — 2,054 ratings — published 1958 17 editions |
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Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.82 — 1,726 ratings — published 1965 7 editions |
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Tristessa by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.59 — 921 ratings — published 1960 6 editions |
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Maggie Cassidy by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.61 — 706 ratings — published 1959 14 editions |
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Visions of Cody by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.56 — 695 ratings — published 1972 10 editions |
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On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac avg rating 4.10 — 587 ratings — published 1957 7 editions |
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Mexico City Blues by Jack Kerouac avg rating 3.68 — 616 ratings — published 1959 5 editions |
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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, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!' What did they call such young people in Goethe's Germany?"
— Jack Kerouac (On the Road)
5 editions
— Jack Kerouac (On the Road)
"I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion."
— Jack Kerouac
5 editions
— Jack Kerouac
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