Various (Burns, Jim; Dorfner, John J.; Ezard, John; Grauerholz, James; Griffey, Alan; Hassett, Brian; Johnson, Rob; Nicosia, Gerald et al.)

The Kerouac Rag, Issue No. 3 (Spring 2005)

Devon, England: The Kerouac Rag, 2005. First Printing. Softcover. “Forty years ago [1965] Jack Kerouac wrote a heartsick, but deeply premature epitaph for what he called the ‘special idea of footwalking freedom’ in America. This was the freedom of the wanderer, the hobo, the bum, the beatnik, the hitchhiker, the world of those who in his time went on the road….His friend, poet Gary Snyder, once saw “a vision of a great rucksack revolution by millions of young Americans.’ But that hope had gone when he wrote his book of essays and sketches, ‘Lonesome Traveler,’ in 1960. ‘I myself was a hobo,’ he said, ‘but I had to give it up because of the increasing television stories about the abominableness of strangers with packs. You can’t be alone even in the primitive wilderness anymore. There’s always a helicopter. As far as I’m concerned, the only thing to do is to sit in a room and get drunk” (from the excellent inaugural contribution to the issue, “They call him the wanderer…” by John Ezard). Addressing, now our internet clientele more specifically: if you’ve been keeping tabs on our weekly “New Arrivals” and by chance have seen Issues Nos. 1 & 2 of “The Kerouac Rag,” you might think as I did — that Griffey’s once (comparatively) gaunt (though nevertheless collectible-&-charming) first two issues of the magazine together don’t come close to the voluminous and nutritious Beat-scholarly compendium that is Issue No. 3 of The Kerouac Rag. The magazine seems to have gotten a personal trainer during the 4-year “offseason” between the second and third issues of The Kerouac Rag, because this issue is JACKED (see what I did there?). While this wildly endowed — perhaps “rebirthed” — instantiation of The Kerouac Rag is simply brimming with contributors, we will endeavor to list only the contributions of those included in the Author field, above (for the purposes of this curation). As advertised near rightmost fine-edge of the work’s front cover, the issue continues (after Ezard’s piece, lengthily quoted above) with a deeply insightful interview of Carolyn Cassady conducted by Rob Johnson. Alan Griffey, the magazine’s dutiful editor and General Secretary of the “Critteroonies” (to which he is always referring in his editorials; the word itself having been taken from ‘page 160 of On the Road,’ according to Griffey) works overtime in this issue, his contributions totaling ten. The late, great Jim Burns appears with a review of David Meltzer’s “San Francisco Beat: Talking with the Poets”; the indefatigable Brian Hassett appears with “The Author, The Auctioneer, and The Altruist,”; the equally dogged Gerald Nicosia appears with “The Fate of the Memory Babe Archive”; and saving “the best” for last, as our allegiances request and Devotion instructs—the indispensable James Grauerholz, paramount authority on all things WSB and treasured friend of Third Mind Books, appears with “Military Burroughs.” Trade-softcover format literary magazine: the first and only printing of this scarce (& dependably surprising), Kerouac-focused periodical. From the collection of Kevin Ring, publisher of Beat Scene magazine & other indispensable productions (many available here), & our good friend. Magazine in strong near fine condition with minute-to-moderate shelf-wear, rubbing to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers; ever so slightly more pronounced exhibits of rubbing near fine-edges & spine-edge of same; tiny assortment of minute-to-minor scuffing to rightmost fine-edge of back cover near top right-hand corner; moderate-to-pronounced chipping, bump-creasing to right-hand corner of back cover at same. Near Fine. [Item #5155]

Price: $65.00