Kerouac, Jack

Visions of Cody

ISBN: 0070342016
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1972. First Edition. Hardcover. "Here is the America of the late forties and early fifties that Kerouac knew so well and celebrated so magnificently- the irrestible (sic) lure of the cross-country highways feverishly traveled by Jack Duluoz, the narrator of this book, and Cody Pomeray; the loneliness of diners and cafeterias and cheap hotels, of 42nd Street bars and cafeterias; the small towns passed through quickly, evoking boyhood memories; the all-night wine-drinking and pot-smoking sessions, where the music was Billie Holiday and Lester Young and Charlie Parker- all this sense of superabundant reality informed by the knowledge of mortality: "I'm writing this book because we're all going to die...my heart broke in the general despair and opened up inward to the Lord, I made a supplication in this dream." " (from front flap) The haunting, quintessential novel by Jack Kerouac, Founding Father of the Beat Generation. Originally written during 1951-1952, partly overlapping with what became On the Road, this work was not published in its entirety until 1972, three years after Kerouac's sad & untimely death. As ever, this "novel" is really an impressionistic memoir-diary of his experiences (under the thin guise of alter ego "Jack Duluoz") as he restlessly travels back & forth across the American continent, often in the company of Neal Cassady ("Cody Pomeray") & among his real-life Beat cohorts including William S. Burroughs ("Bull Hubbard"), lucien Carr ("Julien Love"), Allen Ginsberg ("Irwin Garden"), Al & Helen Hinkle ("Slim & Helen Buckle"), John Clellon Holmes ("Tom Wilson") & many others. This writer personally found it to be one of Kerouac's most profound works, which must be read attentively in its entirety to be appreciated for its depth & intense moods. With an exemplary, heartfelt introduction by Ginsberg in the wake of his great friend, collaborator & co-Beat Founder's passing. In it, he writes: "Jack Kerouac didn't write this book for money, he wrote it for love, he gave it away to the world; not even for fame, but as an explanation and prayer to his fellow mortals- with naked motive, and humble piety search- that's what makes Visions of Cody a work of primitive genius..." (pg. xi) Offered here is the first edition as stated on copyright page, hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, with all points noted in Ann Charters' definitive Kerouac bibliography (A30(a), pg. 50). As noted in Charters, this was first published on January 8, 1973 (copyrighted 1972), with review copies issued during November 1972. A most important & desirable collectible in the Kerouac canon. In exceptionally very fine condition: Book with only mildest wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of dark red cloth front, back covers & spine; very small amount of smudging at & just below "CODY" portion of title on spine, with no loss of gilt lettering; very light rubbing & occasional tiny spots at edges of text block. Interior very fine, all but substantially mint. Dust jacket in very fine condition with only a few very faint scratches on front, back covers, the former mostly at blank areas & not effecting illustration, latter hardly effecting illustration (reproduction of a photograph of Kerouac by Burroughs, with his dates); mildest wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; one miniscule, closed tear at upper left spine corner. Very Fine / Very fine. [Item #3405]

Price: $500.00