Grace Beats Karma: Letters from Prison 1958-1960

by Neal Cassady

Letters from Neal Cassady written to his wife and family during his imprisonment.

Cassady inspired a generations of writers, and his own words, written from the isolation of prison, reveal the complex nature of this mythological figure.

Genres: Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 1992

About the author

Neal Leon Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s, perhaps best known for being characterized as Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road.

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heard about this book in an interview with Carolyn Cassady, who said it was remarkable. The letters are quite personal, and I did not find the book that interesting. In fact, I didn't read it all.

Neal Cassady is a mythological figure in the Beat Generation, inspiring writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, and also famously drove the bus for Ken Kesey and his merry pranksters on their cross-country penegrations.

Cassady received a long sentence for a couple of joints, which meant he lost his railroad job (and pension) and this basically destroyed his life. Many prisoners do discover a spiritual life while incarcerated; such jail-house conversions are well known. Cassady's letters here are also to a Catholic priest, his godfather, whom he had not contacted for many years. Sometimes such displays of faith are for more secular purposes — to impress the parole board. Cassady was always known as a spiritual person, but he also comes across as manic and unfocussed.

This volume concludes with a manifesto / screed by Allen Ginsberg: Poetry, Violence, and the Trembling of the Lambs. America is having a nervous breakdown Ginsberg writes, which seems as true now as it did in 1959 when he wrote this short lament.

Unfortunately, this concluding piece by Ginsberg tends to overshadow the rest of the book.

This book might be of most interest to Beat Generation completists and enthusiastic Neal Cassady fans.

[Mat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Krazy letters from Sir Speed Limit, Superman, Dean Moriarty - lover, muse of the beats and American individualist par excellence.
These letters range from despairing and self-lacerating to exultant statements about his new-found Christian religiosity through the works of Edgar Cayce - a form of Christianity which also believes in reincarnation. I had no idea Cassady was such a religious person until I read this book - now I understand better Kerouac's description of him as saintlike in Big Sur (when he opens up the cabin door, remember?) and other works.

To me, the real prize in this book is the final chapter entitled, "Poetry, Violence and the Trembling of the Lambs" so beautifully written by the extremely articulate and eloquent Allen Ginsberg that I think it might just be the ultimate BEAT MANIFESTO. In these three pages, Allen beautiful narrows down what the beats are all about - their place in the world and society and their philosophy and beliefs and for me, makes this book worth the price of admission.
The so-called Neal Cassady: Collected Letters 1944-1967 (a misnomer for that book contains neither letters from this book nor letters from As Ever) features much better quality letters from Cassady when he was more sane before spending time behind bars.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Collected Letters of Neal Cassady was more interesting as these letters are all to his wife Carolyn and some are more interesting than others and his first letters have a real religious or rather “Jesus” bent that tapers off towards the end, though they were both (he and Carolyn) big readers of Edgar Cayce and mysticism. He even talks about doing yoga asanas to work out a physical problem from weightlifting - interesting as letters were written in 1959 and probably not many yoga practitioners as there are now. Also the design of this book could be improved - small typeface, photo on cover could be enlarged. I’d like to see Penguin reissue it. Carolyn Cassidy’s introduction highly worth reading as she explains the context of the letters and how he ended up in prison - selling a few marijuana joints to an undercover cop. Hard to believe that it led to prison time back then. Neal Cassady would have welcomed the dispensaries and home delivery now available!

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 4 out of 5]

As previous reviews have duly noted this book is somewhat difficult to get through. As the title (byline?) states, this is a collection of the letters that Neal (Kerouac's Dean Moriarty) composed (primarily) to his wife during his time in prison. I feel the need to warn as others have -- this is NOT for the big ole Dean Moriarty fans as the person portrayed here is an older Neal who seems almost embarassed by the picture of him that Kerouac's made famous. This is a book that is more for the discerning reader, or more for the completist, almost, of Cassady's life. This is not to say the book is uninteresting.

Grace Beats Karma is a fascinating look into what becomes of a self-loathing degenerate. It paints a picture of Neal in his most vulnerable times, insecure and embarrassed, almost wanton in his need for attention and awash in the deepest of guilt. He's a man who is painfully aware of his shortcomings and fast realizing there is no getting away from them. It is interesting to see the change in him, and sad to read these knowing what comes of him in the end.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This provides a nice tangent from the typical 'Beat' writer material. Neal Cassady comes across as a man in prison (for selling drugs to agents) unable to deal with the ideal Kerouac created of him as Dean Moriarty in 'On the Road'. It's insightful as a look into a man who has self-destructed from the power of Kerouac's vision of him and the celebrity that followed.

Neal's writing is very second rate and flaccid in many parts and feels as if he's trying to capture the style and achievements of the Beat writers' circle group into which he has become entrenched. Interesting but not particularly necessary. Great title though.

[Nate Jordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once my thesis is complete, I will be reading this - it's out-of-print but I found a good copy from alibris.com.

4/22/08 - Just finished it. Here is presented a Neal Cassady who is fervently writing about faith, hope, and the loss of both. Feeling like a complete failure, Neal's letters are desperate calls for help - from everyone he knows physically and metaphysically. These are sad accounts, but human, and show a side of "Dean Moriarty" that fans of "On the Road" would be better off not reading. This book is for Beat Enthusiasts.

[Brandon Bohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange insight into the philosophy/ religion that was The Beats. It is hard to wrap your head around Kerouac's blend of hedonism, Catholicism, and Buddhism. Somehow, and not on purpose, Neal Cassady's letters from prison help to reconcile the gap between seemingly unreconcilable belief systems.

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this one for a long time. It's the best exposition available of a period of Neal's life where he was strongly devoted to raising a family, reportage from its tail-end in Neal's letters from prison to wife Carolyn and kids Cathy, Jami, and John Allen. If you're not already a Beat fan, this is still an interesting window into an uncommon person's experience after getting busted for pot by undercover narcs in (I think) 1956. Nice getting that inside view, with Neal assuming the paternal role by telling half of the info on various things to his kids and sweetly encouraging them to do dictionary research. It also gives an eye on Neal's religious/devotional side, including lots of (Edgar) Cayceisms (the title is his condensation of one lesson) and details from the lives of a hundred Catholic saints, memorization of which Cassady styled as a mental defense to keep his focus behind bars (like flipping the sledgehammer later), and several prime examples of his herky-jerky thinking-while-writing style, which I tried to hint at somewhat in the script for a graphic novel adaptation of his The First Third (coming soon). Grace Beats Karma is out of print but available on various sites if you look around.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant, funny, sad and poignant. With his arrest and incarceration, Neal Cassady entered the last third of his life. With wife Carolyn’s refusal to put their home up for his bail, his world began to crumble. These letters, mostly to her, show his humor, talent, brilliance, and desperation. They offer a deeper look into the complexities of his character than could ever have been conveyed by the fictionalization he received from Jack.

[Gautsho]

Ei saagi oodata, et kirjad vanglast oleks midagi muud kui mustalt masendavad, aga see oli nii kurb, eriti kuna enamik aega usub ta siiralt, et läheb varsti Carolyni, laste ja koera juurde tagasi, aga kõikenägeva pilguga tulevikuinimesed näevad, et elu saab varsti läbi, et nelja aasta pärast on ta juba Ken Keseyga bussisõidul, et Carolyn on tasapisi juba alla andnud ja kes siis ikka usub, et inimesed iseenesest muutuvad. 1964. a ytlevad LSD-lapsukesed ta kohta yldistavalt "40-aastane" ja lihtne on unustada, et tegelikult läks ta vanglasse 32-aastasena.
Lisaks ei kirjuta ta kehvalt ja kes endal sõnamängudega meelt lahutab, on alati vaimustav ja ta kirjad lastele on veel omaette toredad ja nõudlikud - ta lemmikhobi on lapsed sõnaraamatu juurde saata.