Monday, July 02, 2007

Kerouac-a-thon


Jack Kerouac's On the Road, one of those books that everyone must read once in their life, turned 50 this year. To celebrate, fans and close friends read the entire books aloud at Naropa University, an institution that I would teach for free at just to breathe among its ghosts. Kerouac actually wrote the book in a blinding flash on a teletype roll of paper, finishing in three weeks. It's not exactly a masterpiece, but its still a cracking read and worth tearing through once, preferably in the same weekend as you read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Then you can return to your regular life. Gallery of On the Road covers here.

4 comments:

Greg von Winckel said...

That reminds me, have you ever read the story "The Great Shark Hunt?"

Rufus said...

Yes, I remember it was quite good. It might be time to read it again though. I think I read it when I was 19.

Anonymous said...

I got a kick out of this one a sort of fear and loathing in los angeles: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1411677315/ref=sr_11_1/104-9633264-8915903?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Rufus said...

I wonder if there's going to be a cottage industry in Frey parodies.