Nicosia, Gerald (Kerouac, Jack)

The Two Lowells of Jack Kerouac

Coventry, England: Beat Scene Press, 1988. Limited First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. "When I first reached Lowell, Massachusetts, in July 1977, I had read all of Jack Kerouac's books at least once, and some several times. I am not sure what I expected to find- possibly a medieval city of walls and arches and bridges over moats, with shadowy caped phantoms lurching about, breathing fire from their mouth. Possibly a holy city of saintly dying little boys and real live angels on every corner. Clearly, I didn't find any of that. But even worse, what I did find was pretty close to real horror." (first paragraph, pg. 1) Transcript of "A talk specially prepared for the Lowell Conference of Biographers at the dedication of the Jack Kerouac Memorial Park" (final page) by Gerald Nicosia, the foremost critical biographer of Jack Kerouac (see our two editions of his classic Memory Babe, item No.s 1745, 4997), as well as our good friend & esteemed colleague at the European Beat Studies Network (ebsn.eu). Nicosia, with his incisive perception & thorough grounding in the life & work of the Founding Father of the Beat Generation, compares the mythical-fantastical version of Lowell in some of Kerouac's works with its gritty reality as his birthplace, hometown to which he returned & as it existed in the first decades since his death. With front cover illustration of a Lowell street scene by local artist Janet Lambert Moore. Booklet in stapled wrappers, an early publication of our good friend Kevin Ring's Beat Scene Press, publisher of the indispensable Beat Scene magazine & other productions (many available here). One of an edition of 115 un-numbered copies per colophon at back cover. An exceptionally rare BSP collectible; a most rewarding & insightful work of Kerouac scholarship by the incomparable Gerald Nicosia. In very fine condition with only a touch of rubbing, light browning & very occasional spotting esp. at blank margins of front, back covers & stapled spine; a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps & very small, faint creases at mostly upper corners of some page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #5270]

Price: $50.00 save 25% $37.50