Kleiman, Miriam (Kerouac, Jack)

Hit the Road Jack!: Jack Kerouac's short time in the U.S. Naval Reserve

Coventry, England: The Beat Scene Press, 2017. Limited First Edition Thus. Stapled Wrappers. "The qualities that made On the Road a huge success and Kerouac a powerful storyteller, guide and literary icon are the same ones that rendered him remarkably unsuitable for the military: Independence, creativity, impulsivity, sensuality and recklessness." (from second page) An essay that focuses on the brief, aborted U.S. Naval Reserve career of Jack Kerouac during World War II. The author, Miriam Kleiman, is a public affairs specialist, scholarly writer & a graduate of the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor. With access to records not available until 2005, Kleiman describes the findings of the military's psychiatric evaluators who "diagnosed" Kerouac as suffering from Dementia Praecox & other mental illnesses. He was discharged from service as unsuitable, not even having finished boot camp. The whole story of this brief but critical episode in the life of Kerouac is extracted from his extensive military file. Originally published in Prologue Magazine Vol. 43, No. 3 (Fall 2011), this is a limited, hand-numbered edition, one of 150 copies published as Number 62 in the Beat Scene Press series of chapbooks produced by Kevin Ring in the UK. This is copy No. 29/150. A deep & thoughtful work of Kerouac scholarship; a beautiful production destined for increasing rarity by the publisher-editor of Beat Scene magazine, the indispensable resource, along with these special publications, that embodies its motto: "This is the Beat Generation." In very fine condition, substantially mint inside & out. Very Fine. [Item #3704]

Price: $35.00