,

Jack Kerouac


Born
in Lowell, Massachusetts, The United States
March 12, 1922

Died
October 21, 1969

Website

Genre

Influences


Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.

Of French-Canadian ancestry, Kerouac was raised in a French-speaking home in Lowell, Massachusetts. He "learned English at age six and spoke with a marked accent into his late teens." During World War II, he served in the United States Merchant Marine; he completed his first novel at the time, which was published more than 40 years after his death. His first published book was The Town and the City (1950), and he achieved widespread fame and notoriety with his second, On the Road, in 1957. It made him a beat icon, and he went on to publish 12 more novels and num
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Average rating: 3.7 · 745,486 ratings · 38,723 reviews · 363 distinct worksSimilar authors
On the Road

3.61 avg rating — 448,900 ratings — published 1957 — 655 editions
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The Dharma Bums

3.93 avg rating — 101,691 ratings — published 1958 — 4 editions
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Big Sur

3.84 avg rating — 37,973 ratings — published 1962 — 178 editions
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The Subterraneans

3.65 avg rating — 16,864 ratings — published 1958 — 7 editions
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On the Road: The Original S...

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4.11 avg rating — 13,681 ratings — published 1957 — 4 editions
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Desolation Angels

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3.93 avg rating — 12,304 ratings — published 1958 — 22 editions
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Lonesome Traveler

3.75 avg rating — 8,149 ratings — published 1960 — 14 editions
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Tristessa

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3.65 avg rating — 6,984 ratings — published 1960 — 4 editions
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Atop an Underwood: Early St...

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3.58 avg rating — 6,284 ratings — published 1999 — 19 editions
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Maggie Cassidy

3.59 avg rating — 5,478 ratings — published 1959 — 81 editions
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More books by Jack Kerouac…
Selected Letters, 1940-1956 Selected Letters, 1957-1969
(2 books)
by
4.15 avg rating — 1,208 ratings

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Quotes by Jack Kerouac  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“[...]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 centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”
Jack Kerouac, On the Road

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry.”
Jack Kerouac

Polls

Bookworm Beacons Read The Classics In 2017
Top 3 Win!

Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury The terrifyingly prophetic novel of a post-literate future. The classic dystopian novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity.
 
  3 votes 18.8%

On the Road On the Road by Jack Kerouac by
Jack Kerouac
On the Road chronicles Jack Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent with his friend Neal Cassady, "a sideburned hero of the snowy West." As "Sal Paradise" and "Dean Moriarty," the two roam the country in a quest for self-knowledge and experience. Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz combine to make On the Road an inspirational work of lasting importance.
 
  2 votes 12.5%

One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez by Gabriel García Márquez The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.
 
  2 votes 12.5%

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Perfume The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind by Patrick Süskind An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion — his sense of smell — leads to murder.
 
  2 votes 12.5%

The Painted Veil The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham by W. Somerset Maugham Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful, but love-starved Kitty Fane.
The Painted Veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive.
 
  2 votes 12.5%

Christy Christy by Catherine Marshall by Catherine Marshall In the year 1912, nineteen-year-old Christy Huddleston leaves home to teach school in the Smoky Mountains -- and comes to know and love the resilient people of the region, with their fierce pride, their dark superstitions, their terrible poverty, and their yearning for beauty and truth. But her faith will be severely challenged by trial and tragedy, by the needs and unique strengths of two remarkable young men, and by a heart torn between true love and unwavering devotion.
 
  1 vote 6.3%

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg by Fannie Flagg
It's first the story of two women in the 1980s, of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women -- of the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth, who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder.
 
  1 vote 6.3%

The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger by J.D. Salinger
J.D. Salinger's classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950's and 60's it was the novel that every teenage boy wants to read.
 
  1 vote 6.3%

The Outsiders The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton by S.E. Hinton
According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back.
 
  1 vote 6.3%

The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells by H.G. Wells
With H.G. Wells’ other novels, The War of the Worlds was one of the first and greatest works of science fiction ever to be written. Even long before man had learned to fly, H.G. Wells wrote this story of the Martian attack on England.
 
  1 vote 6.3%

16 total votes
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