King of the Beats. That’s Jack Kerouac and his magnificent second novel is the Beat bible. A seminal text of the twentieth century and a book that is said to have sold a million pair of Levis and sent a million pair of feet hitch-hiking across the country. Narrated by Sal Paradise (Jack Kerouac) it follows his picaresque adventures with Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady) the charismatic hard-living and fast-talking hero-saint. On foot, in buses, jumping freights and speeding through the vast American night in fast cars they spend their time doing drugs, drinking booze, chasing girls and digging jazz. A couple of beat souls rejecting conformity and living their lives in pursuit of kicks, physical and spiritual. The myth is that the novel, as published, was written in a 3 week Benzedrine and caffeine fuelled marathon on one continuous scroll. The truth is by the time it was reviewed positively in the New York Times, it was a re-worked highly polished literary jewel. Over night Kerouac became the voice of a generation and the star of the counter culture. These were roles that weighed heavily upon the shoulders of the shy, guilt-laden Catholic mamas boy….He drank himself to death at the age of 46.  “…the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centrelight pop…” Long live the King
of the Beats!