Ellis, R.J.; Clark, Tom

Jack Kerouac- Outside Writing: A Pocket Biography with: Jack Kerouac: A Biography

ISBN: 817851043X;1557783
New Delhi, India; New York, NY: Prestige Books; Paragon House, 2009; 1990. First Edition; First Softcover Edition Thus. Hardcover; Softcover. Jack Kerouac- Outside Writing: A Pocket Biography signed by author R.J. Ellis. (1) "Jack Kerouac is famous for being a wild celebrant of spontaneous adventure, as typified by his autobiographical novel, On the Road. Yet his life and his writings are much more complicated and exciting than this. R.J. Ellis's (Jack Kerouac- Outside Writing: a) pocket biography unpicks how Kerouac, unable to handle his fame as a daring enfant terrible- an outrageous new stylist- and tortured by doubts over his identity, slid ever deeper into alcoholism and drug dependence, whilst still creating groundbreaking literary experimentation. His daring new style and confessional frankness took the reader outside writing's usual limits, shook up the literary world and became enormously influential." (from back cover) Author R.J. Ellis, a British academician & prolific scholar, has written this compact critical biography of Jack Kerouac, Founding Father of the Beat Generation. Ellis digs deeply into the outside influences & inner conflicts-demons that drove Kerouac to create his Beat literary masterpieces (as we finally now see them so long after the end of his tragically short life). Including many images of Kerouac & related vintage ephemera; informative appendices with a key to selected pseudonyms in Kerouac's works & his novels' chronology; footnotes & bibliography. Hardcover in illustrated boards with dust jacket duplicating same, first edition, an Indian production. On the title page, Ellis has crossed out his printed name & hand-written his signature & date of "Dec(ember) 2009," the year of publication, below. (2) We have included with this scarce & excellent introduction to Kerouac one of his older classic biographies: Tom Clark (1941-2018), the great & prolific American poet, novelist, editor & biographer who epitomizes our category of "The Prolific & Underappreciated," wrote the highly acclaimed Jack Kerouac: A Biography, first published in 1984. This copy is from the 1990 first trade-format softcover edition, third printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. "All the components of the Jack Kerouac legend are here: The excesses of alcohol and drugs; the self-delusion; the characters- Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Lucien Carr, John Clellon Holmes and William Burroughs, Jack's Mother, Gabrielle, and the other women in Kerouac's life. There is also a record of the travels that became the basis for On the Road and Visions of Cody, the death-shrouded childhood that became Mexico City Blues and Tristessa, and the stupor of fame that weighed on him that he tried to articulate in Big Sur." (back cover) With many vintage images of Kerouac & Co., notes, bibliography & index. Two very worthwhile & collectible biographical studies of the life & work of Jack Kerouac, both in very fine condition: (1) Book in very fine condition, virtually mint inside & out. We should note that some pages or paragraphs of text have a grey, lightly ink-smudged background as issued, which do not substantially effect legibility. Dust jacket very fine with only very light rubbing & faint scratching to front, back covers & spine, a few tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same. (2) very fine with only light rubbing & faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; very mild wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same; moderate sunning to spine & thin edge of back cover; very slight rubbing to edges of text block esp. lower edge. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps at corners of a few page leaves. An extra handling fee will be added for shipping due to the weight of this item. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4335]

Price: $50.00