Jack Kerouac: A Biography

I was looking for a biography of Jack Kerouac and the one thing I wanted to avoid was a fan's love letter. I wanted something as objective as possible which would illuminate the writer as a man rather than a hero, and that is exactly what I found in Tom Clark's text. It's quite concise with its narrative running just over 200 pages. Despite its brevity, the book managed to cover Kerouac's shortened life in a most satisfactory fashion. I also enjoyed the pictures which artfully adorn the chapters. The one thing that really stands out is the way in which he used drugs to self-medicate. He said that alcoholism was a happy disease but it certainly wasn't for him. Depression appeared to be an even more prominent feature of his personality than graphomania. I found the last forty pages of the tale very sad indeed. One longs to grab him by his flannel shirt and inject him with antabuse. All of this is wasted emotion, however. The man who is bent on killing himself can never be deterred from his goal. This is a skillful portrait of a legend as a human being.

One of the first things that you come to learn about Jack Kerouac, aside from geographics, is how much he loved to write. The man truly was relentless and driven. He carried a typewriter in his suitcase and being out of work was just an excuse or a good moment to write. I read this book and it saddened me to no end because Jack inspired and even pushed many to become writers, but didn't have the luxury of long life to see his own fruits. William S. Burroughs accredits Jack for his whole literary career. Clark describes Kerouac in terms that you may not have ever thought of him in. He was a deeply religious person due to his mother, he was kind and gentle and, almost fatherly to his friends. He did love to drink and get high, like his contemporaries, but you really feel that he was as mis-guided by his flock as much as he tried to steer them. They truly were his extended family. This is the only Clark piece that I've read, and it was well worth the time and money spent. I gave this book four stars because Clark seems to describe Kerouac as two people at all times. And maybe the question of that itself should've been examined further. I will recommend this book to others for sure. This book seems to encapsulate the Kerouac very well (for all his faults).