Contents
Jack Kerouac
Writing On the Road and becoming a central Beat writer.
On the Road · The Dharma Bums
- Born
- 12 March 1922
- Birthplace
- Lowell, USA
- Died
- 21 October 1969
More people
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac was an American novelist and poet whose journeys and friendships fed a distinctive, rhythm-driven prose. His work helped give the Beat Generation its literary identity.
Early life
French-speaking childhood
Grew up in a French-Canadian family in Lowell and spoke French before English.
Football scholarship
Attended Columbia on a football scholarship but left without completing a degree.
Career
- 1940s
Travel and friendships
Worked in the merchant marine and met writers who became part of the Beat circle.
- 1950
First novel
Published The Town and the City.
- 1957
Public breakthrough
On the Road made him a nationally recognised writer.
- Late 1950s–1960s
Prolific publication
Published novels and poetry drawn from earlier travels and manuscripts.
Selected work
On the Road
A restless journey across America based on travels with friends.
The Dharma Bums
A novel about spiritual searching and outdoor life.
Mexico City Blues
A sequence of poems influenced by jazz and Buddhist ideas.
Beyond work
Spiritual interests
Explored Buddhism while retaining ties to his Catholic upbringing.
Literary circle
His friends included Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Neal Cassady.
Sources & photo credit
Life and career ↗Institutional or specialist reference ↗Photo: Kerouac_by_Palumbo.jpg : Tom Palumbo from New York, NY, USA derivative work: Sir Richardson at en.wikipedia. CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
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