Kerouac, Jack (Vol. 2) - Kerouac, Jack 1922–1969
Kerouac, Jack 1922–1969
Kerouac, an American beat novelist of the spontaneous composition method, is best known for On the Road. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 5-8, rev. ed.; obituary, Vols. 25-28.)
The reactions to his works have varied from one extreme to another, from inordinate praise to absolute condemnation. He has been admired for being wild, sensational, and irresponsible; he has been attacked for being nihilistic, pessimistic, and bizarre. His works have been called pointless, formless autobiographical ramblings.
It seems to me, however, that both judgments are off-center: most people who have praised him have done so for the wrong reasons, and those who have passed him off cursorily have perhaps not examined the works closely enough. For I think that a definite rationale motivates Kerouac's writing. He is, first of all, serious about his work: he is a writer with a "message." Through autobiography, social...
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