Reviews

First Edition of the On the Road, 1957 Today is the birthday of Jack Kerouac. Best known as the father of The Beat Generation his spontaneous prose style changed the game, bringing a fresh approach to the novel. Kerouac’s iconic status shows no signs of letting up. All is books are still in print and his masterpiece On the Road remains a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations. On his spontaneous writing style: Many of his…

Going to any length: The manuscript of Marquis de Sade’s ‘The 120 Days of Sodom’ January 7, 2015 – Posted in: Banned / Censored / Destroyed, Content, Exhibits

Part of the festivities celebrating the bicentenary of the death of Marquis de Sade is an exhibit at the L’ Institut des Lettres et Manuscrits in Paris featuring the original manuscript of The 120 Days of Sodom. Regarded by Sade as his magnum opus, The 120 Days of Sodom also known as The School of Libertinism, was written by Sade in the space of thirty-seven days in 1785 while imprisoned. The production, construction and preservation of the…

Jack Kerouac reads from ‘On The Road’, 1959 February 13, 2014 – Posted in: Miscellany

[youtube]http://youtu.be/QzCF6hgEfto[/youtube] Published in 1957 by Viking, On The Road would quickly become a cornerstone work of the Beat Generation and the bible of the American counterculture. Here is Kerouac appearing on the Steve Allen Show in 1959. First we get a nice background of the book’s history from Kerouac: 7 years on the road, 3 weeks to write, and that it was written on a continous piece of teletype paper. Then Kerouac gets reading and Steve Allen…

Lost Souls Are Contained In "The Library of Dust" December 30, 2009

Canister #55-559 (All Photos By David Maisel.) “Avoid the world, it’s just a lot of dust and drag and means nothing in the end.” –Jack Kerouac. The crematorium, autopsy room, and hallways of an outbuilding at the Oregon State Hospital, formerly known as “The Insane Asylum,” need to be cleaned. Not exactly a plum assignment. So a prisoner from a nearby penitentiary has been brought in for the job. He’s perfect for it. He has…