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Jack Kerouac: Angelheaded Hipster
In the fifties, the movies had James Dean and Marlon Brando. Rock 'n' roll had Elvis Presley. The American novel had Jack Kerouac.
Jack Kerouac was the father of the Beat Generation and the creator of a "spontaneous bop prose" style, which embodied the riffing and improvisation techniques that were used by jazz heroes such as Charlie Parker and Lester Young. In novels like The Subterraneans, On the Road, and The Dharma Bums, Kerouac portrayed characters hungry for experience and eager to discover a new vision of life. He made the life of a writer sound exciting and, along with his Beat contemporaries, helped liberate poetry from the page and took it to places more commonly associated with music or art or the jazz club, the coffee house, the art gallery, and the concert hall. Essentially a writer with spiritual preoccupations, he helped make the discussion of religion and spirituality hip by embracing the apparent paradox that it was often the wretched and despised, the "poor in spirit," who were most open to the things of heaven. The character Sal Paradise in On the Road, searching for soul in a world that seemed to be losing its soul, was a thinly disguised portrait of Kerouac himself.
Today, forty years after the publication of On the Road, there is more discussion of Jack Kerouac and his work than ever before. In Angelheaded Hipster, Steve Turner examines the life and work of the pivotal figure of the fifties' countercultural revolution, and explores the reasons why Kerouac's unique prose and his search for the truth continues to inspire new readers.
Jack Kerouac was the father of the Beat Generation and the creator of a "spontaneous bop prose" style, which embodied the riffing and improvisation techniques that were used by jazz heroes such as Charlie Parker and Lester Young. In novels like The Subterraneans, On the Road, and The Dharma Bums, Kerouac portrayed characters hungry for experience and eager to discover a new vision of life. He made the life of a writer sound exciting and, along with his Beat contemporaries, helped liberate poetry from the page and took it to places more commonly associated with music or art or the jazz club, the coffee house, the art gallery, and the concert hall. Essentially a writer with spiritual preoccupations, he helped make the discussion of religion and spirituality hip by embracing the apparent paradox that it was often the wretched and despised, the "poor in spirit," who were most open to the things of heaven. The character Sal Paradise in On the Road, searching for soul in a world that seemed to be losing its soul, was a thinly disguised portrait of Kerouac himself.
Today, forty years after the publication of On the Road, there is more discussion of Jack Kerouac and his work than ever before. In Angelheaded Hipster, Steve Turner examines the life and work of the pivotal figure of the fifties' countercultural revolution, and explores the reasons why Kerouac's unique prose and his search for the truth continues to inspire new readers.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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About the author
Steve Turner
32 books70 followersSteve Turner is an English music journalist, biographer and poet, who grew up in Northamptonshire, England. His first published article was in the Beatles Monthly in 1969. His career as a journalist began as features editor of Beat Instrumental where he interviewed many of the prominent rock musicians of the 1970s. He subsequently freelanced for music papers including NME, Melody Maker and Rolling Stone.
During the 1980s he wrote extensively for British newspapers and magazines on a range of subjects as well as producing his study of the relationship between rock music and religion, Hungry For Heaven, and co-authoring U2: Rattle & Hum, the book of the film. In the 1990s he began devoting himself to full-length books, the first being a best selling biography of British music star Cliff Richard, Cliff Richard: The Biography, in 1993, which stayed in the Sunday Times bestseller list for six weeks. At the same time he has written a number of poetry books for both adults and children. The first of his books for children, The Day I Fell Down The Toilet, has now sold over 120,000 copies, and total sales for his children's poetry collection now exceeds 200,000.
His published poetry books for adults are Tonight We Will Fake Love, Nice and Nasty, Up To Date, The King of Twist and Poems. His published poetry collections for children are The Day I Fell Down The Toilet, Dad, You're Not Funny, The Moon Has Got His Pants On, I Was Only Asking and Don't Take Your Elephant To School.
He now combines his book writing and journalism with poetry readings, lecture tours of America and Europe and consultancies. He lives in London.
Hungry for Heaven: Rock and Roll and the Search for Redemption(1988)
Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now (1993) Van Morrison
Cliff Richard: The Biography (1993) Cliff Richard
A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (1994; updated in 1999 and 2005)
Jack Kerouac: Angelheaded Hipster (1996)
Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye (1998)
Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts (2001)
The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend (2004) Johnny Cash
Amazing Grace: John Newton, Slavery and the World's Most Enduring Song (2005)
The Gospel According to the Beatles (2006)
An Illustrated History of Gospel(2010)
The Band That Played On (2011)
During the 1980s he wrote extensively for British newspapers and magazines on a range of subjects as well as producing his study of the relationship between rock music and religion, Hungry For Heaven, and co-authoring U2: Rattle & Hum, the book of the film. In the 1990s he began devoting himself to full-length books, the first being a best selling biography of British music star Cliff Richard, Cliff Richard: The Biography, in 1993, which stayed in the Sunday Times bestseller list for six weeks. At the same time he has written a number of poetry books for both adults and children. The first of his books for children, The Day I Fell Down The Toilet, has now sold over 120,000 copies, and total sales for his children's poetry collection now exceeds 200,000.
His published poetry books for adults are Tonight We Will Fake Love, Nice and Nasty, Up To Date, The King of Twist and Poems. His published poetry collections for children are The Day I Fell Down The Toilet, Dad, You're Not Funny, The Moon Has Got His Pants On, I Was Only Asking and Don't Take Your Elephant To School.
He now combines his book writing and journalism with poetry readings, lecture tours of America and Europe and consultancies. He lives in London.
Hungry for Heaven: Rock and Roll and the Search for Redemption(1988)
Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now (1993) Van Morrison
Cliff Richard: The Biography (1993) Cliff Richard
A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (1994; updated in 1999 and 2005)
Jack Kerouac: Angelheaded Hipster (1996)
Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye (1998)
Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts (2001)
The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend (2004) Johnny Cash
Amazing Grace: John Newton, Slavery and the World's Most Enduring Song (2005)
The Gospel According to the Beatles (2006)
An Illustrated History of Gospel(2010)
The Band That Played On (2011)
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 2, 2008
Fascinating. There is a great deal of mythology wrapped around the Beats, this book both undoes and reinforces that mythology. And Jack Kerouac was a fine looking man, if I do say so myself.
July 5, 2013
The writing didn't bring that many new information which hadn't been mentioned thousand times before, although it was more complex than anything I read on Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation as a whole.
What I really loved about this book were the photos because at least half of them I have never seen before and it was interesting seeing Jack on pictures from the latest part of his life when he was all grumpy and drunk and "beat," so to say.
What I really loved about this book were the photos because at least half of them I have never seen before and it was interesting seeing Jack on pictures from the latest part of his life when he was all grumpy and drunk and "beat," so to say.
November 27, 2014
This is a concise but great biography on Jack Kerouac, covering the 'highlights' and 'lows' of his career as a writer and avant-guarde artist. This is the third biography I have read on Kerouac, the other two being the definitive Memory Babe by Gerald Nicosia and Tom Clark's biography on the man which is also another good short summary of his life.
The best thing about this biography is the pictures, as other reviewers have also pointed out. Many of these pictures I had never seen before - there are some great shots of Jack and others famous beats such as Corso, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg and others. If you want a quick overview of Jack's life and career plus some great shots, then get this book. If you want a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of Kerouac, then read Memory Babe by Gerald Nicosia which leaves no stone unturned.
The best thing about this biography is the pictures, as other reviewers have also pointed out. Many of these pictures I had never seen before - there are some great shots of Jack and others famous beats such as Corso, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg and others. If you want a quick overview of Jack's life and career plus some great shots, then get this book. If you want a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of Kerouac, then read Memory Babe by Gerald Nicosia which leaves no stone unturned.
November 6, 2007
more of an over-view. fills in some pieces of the puzzle.
March 29, 2008
Read this during a family vacation to Estes Park, Colorado. Quick read with a lot of good photos.
February 24, 2009
GREAT photos!
July 23, 2016
Nicely done bio. Good mix of information and images.
December 2, 2012
if ya buy it for the pictures alone, you won't go far wrong _
May 15, 2021
My girlfriend got me this back in 96 when it first came out. I’ve just finished re-reading it for the first time since then. At first glance it’s stylised photo-heavy design gives you an impression that the actual text is going to simply report the obvious and focus on OTR. It doesn’t. It’s a great portable biog of Jack which picks up pertinent quotes from him, his work & letters & interviews as well as his contemporaries.
It’s really good and rightly critical of its subject just as Jack himself was (or disappointed or confused or just drunk if not self-critical). It correctly identifies his Catholic upbringing and later return as being of great importance to understanding the man and his guilt, remorse and dissatisfaction with himself the beats and Buddhism. He’s a tragic mess and this biog doesn’t shy away from that fact whilst still acknowledging his importance, inventiveness, intentions and hope. I continue to enjoy Kerouac’s books 35 years after first reading them and this is a fantastic portable aid to understanding the man behind the Duluoz legend.
The only thing missing for me is more on why Jack turned on his friends and how they felt about it (it’s there but a bit light (probably edited down)) and I’d like to have heard more of the influence of Wolfe and Jack London and perhaps some parallels but these are minor quibbles of personal taste. I think it’s a great accompaniment for any Kerouac reader.
It’s really good and rightly critical of its subject just as Jack himself was (or disappointed or confused or just drunk if not self-critical). It correctly identifies his Catholic upbringing and later return as being of great importance to understanding the man and his guilt, remorse and dissatisfaction with himself the beats and Buddhism. He’s a tragic mess and this biog doesn’t shy away from that fact whilst still acknowledging his importance, inventiveness, intentions and hope. I continue to enjoy Kerouac’s books 35 years after first reading them and this is a fantastic portable aid to understanding the man behind the Duluoz legend.
The only thing missing for me is more on why Jack turned on his friends and how they felt about it (it’s there but a bit light (probably edited down)) and I’d like to have heard more of the influence of Wolfe and Jack London and perhaps some parallels but these are minor quibbles of personal taste. I think it’s a great accompaniment for any Kerouac reader.
April 12, 2018
For those of us who see Kerouac as a literary hero, this is a very important book. Sometimes you read stuff and don’t really need to know much about the author’s life but when it comes to Kerouac, the life and the works together make up some kind of a third story, something that was left untold. The truly beautiful thing about this biography is that it puts quite an emphasis on the spiritual journey that Kerouac embarked on from a very young age. It was never about the kicks and the jazz parties, dripping in sweat. Beneath all that, there was a light, a deep spirituality and a desire for unbrekable eternal beauty.
July 19, 2015
Insofar as this gave a pretty good and accurate depiction of Kerouac and his life, this book was pretty good. Especially if you don't know much about Kerouac, it was an excellent introduction to him. The tons of pictures included made the book read more like a museum exhibit, which was actually pretty fun.
For someone like me who has read about six or seven Kerouac biographies, it didn't really present anything new or different, but it was a quick, fun, informative read about Kerouac, his life, and his writing.
For someone like me who has read about six or seven Kerouac biographies, it didn't really present anything new or different, but it was a quick, fun, informative read about Kerouac, his life, and his writing.
October 11, 2015
Layout, photographs, texture, fonts beautiful! A nice addition to my bookshelf. Since I have slowly lost my Kerouac fascination, I didn't find the biography too interesting. A must-have for all beat-gen fans. I wish there was something like this on Ginsberg and Ken Kesey.
May 24, 2017
An interesting look into Jack Kerouac's life. "Jack Kerouac's writing affected the Beat Generation in the same way Hemingway affected the Lost Generation." Next up: On the Road. Super excited to jump into his writing!
May 31, 2018
4.5 stars, but if I have to round it one way or the other it's definitely up. Jack was such an inspiration, yet at the same time I disagree with several of his life choices, particularly those regarding his wife(s) and child. He's still my hero. Dharma Bums changed my life.
August 29, 2012
good work but a little bit messy I think...
March 13, 2015
An amazing journey through the people and years of the Beat Generation!
August 24, 2017
Ovviamente non ho acquistato questo libro per le inconsistenti "note" biografiche, ma solo per le splendide foto!
September 28, 2020
Short text and many pictures, but it seems to be a rather full biography. The only difficulty I had is that it was sort of "artsy" in that the text is not broken into columns and therefore somewhat difficult to read.
December 25, 2023
The collection of photos and ephemera alone make this biography of Kerouac a must-have for fans, but it's the thoughtful and contemplative text by Steve Turner that truly brings old Jack to life in these pages, and see him down to sleep as well.
August 4, 2020
Kerouac worked to build the Pentagon. Who knew. Good refresher on his life plus great pictures.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews