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Quest for Kerouac
Analyzes the work of American novelist Jack Kerouac and other beat writers, including Burroughs, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, and Corso, and describes the author's own visit to the United States
- GenresLiterary Criticism
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 6, 2022
Sometime in the early 1980s, Chris Challis went on a road trip, during which he interviewed some of the novelists and poets from the Beat Generation. In this book he describes his road trip, includes his conversations with William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Michael McClure, and comments on their work (and on the work of Jack Kerouac who, unfortunately, died in 1969).
I like this book a lot because of a particular literary device Challis employs--in his description of his own experiences, he includes verbal echoes of many of the better-known passages in Beat literature. This is a great way of keeping the Beat achievement before the reader's eyes. Moreover, for me it functioned to link Challis's present road trip with the earlier road trips (and writing about road trips) of the Beats. Thus, the verbal echoes unify the book, as they construct and emphasize a continuity among the Beats' road trips, their writing, Challis's road trip, his writing, and the reader's reading.
I doubt that I would recommend this book as an introduction to the Beats. Challis's allusions to the earlier works can be read as assuming that the reader has already read those texts (a better introduction might be Ann Charters's Penguin Book of Beats). However, this is a great book for readers who are already familiar with the work of writers like Kerouac, Burroughs, Gary Snyder and Ginsberg.
Acquired Aug 15, 1986
Classics Book Shop, Montreal, Quebec
I like this book a lot because of a particular literary device Challis employs--in his description of his own experiences, he includes verbal echoes of many of the better-known passages in Beat literature. This is a great way of keeping the Beat achievement before the reader's eyes. Moreover, for me it functioned to link Challis's present road trip with the earlier road trips (and writing about road trips) of the Beats. Thus, the verbal echoes unify the book, as they construct and emphasize a continuity among the Beats' road trips, their writing, Challis's road trip, his writing, and the reader's reading.
I doubt that I would recommend this book as an introduction to the Beats. Challis's allusions to the earlier works can be read as assuming that the reader has already read those texts (a better introduction might be Ann Charters's Penguin Book of Beats). However, this is a great book for readers who are already familiar with the work of writers like Kerouac, Burroughs, Gary Snyder and Ginsberg.
Acquired Aug 15, 1986
Classics Book Shop, Montreal, Quebec
March 29, 2020
Great book I read this many years ago still a great read about some my favorite authors.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews