JACK KEROUAC - LA BEAT GENERATION

JACK KEROUAC

Jack Kerouac was born on

March 12, 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts.

As the author of the infamous

novel, On the Road, Kerouac

became a leader and a spokesperson

for the Beat Movement. He was

educated at Columbia University and

the novel, On the Road - a semi

autobiographical tome of prose -

exemplified the carefree, Beat lifestyle.

The main character in this story

hitchhikes across the country

with his friend Dean Moriarty

(inspired by yellow Beat adventurer,

Neal Cassady) and enjoys casual

friendships, love affairs and experiences.

The non-materialistic lifestyles of

the protagonists were embraced by

many

readers and helped propel

Kerouac's status into an almost mythical

realm. He learned English as a second

language: his parents were

French-Canadian. He also spent some time in the Navy where he was then discharged due to possessing a schizoid personality. Soon after, he became a merchant seaman and then decided

on the life of a vagabond, from which he obtained inspiration for his later novels. His first book was published in 1950 and titled The Town and the City. It is said that Kerouac struggled with conformity and rejected the then contemporary fictional standards. On the Road was written in less than three weeks and demonstrated a fresh style. This new writing was spontaneous and seemed to be at times unedited. It possessed a strange energy that shocked more established writers but only brought Kerouac well-deserved recognition. Practically all of Kerouac's books are said to be autobiographical. That seems almost redundant since the writer's life obviously has some influence on his or her work. Kerouac, along with other notable writers and artists such as Ginsberg, Corso, Burroughs and Snyder led the lifestyles celebrated by his novels and were all writers of the Beat Generation whose influence on American Literature is of notable importance.

LA BEAT GENERATION

The Beat e is dedicated to the movement that began in the early 1950's with a small and tightly connected group of young writers who demonstrated a care-free, often reckless and unquestionably fresh approach to literature as well as a demonstrative social stance toward what was sometimes referred to as 'The Establishment'. The term 'Beat' was reportedly coined by Jack Kerouac in the late 1940's, but became more common at about the time that writers like himself, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti were beginning to get noticed. It was quickly becoming a slang term in America after World War II, meaning 'exhausted' or 'beat down' and provided this generation with a definitive label for their personal and social positions and perspectives.