Whats your favorite Jack Kerouac book and can anyone recommend similar beat generation writers to read?

Question

Mine is On the Road, i'd rate it as one of the best books ever written in modern times.

Answer 1

I, too, thought "Dharma Bums" spoke to me more than "On the Road", but perhaps that's because I am the type of person who seeks out artistic works that are marginalized or widely considered second-rate in comparison to the so-called singular masterpiece. Often we find traces of the author's personality here that were subsumed or stricken or otherwise eradicated from the master-work. I also like Visions of Gerard which, like Dharma Bums, has a pastoral feel to it. Kerous was a writer of fragmentary novels that were crafted with a poet's temperment and a desire to be a machine that pressed record and hang on for dear life. His motto, "First thought, best thought" will stay with me for life. He is the bridge between the end of the Second World War and the hippie renaissance. His works are a poetic vision of travel and experience, not someone who cared for the chains of narration. Too square ! Ginsberg must have influenced Kerouc greatly. No-one remembers a poet named Gregory Corso, seek out his "Happy Birthday to Death." Burroughs might give you some ideas, but study him at your own risk. But I'd much rather you learn about poetry from Jean Genet or narration from Kennth Patchen. That would send you back even futher back in time - where the future is always located.

"The Journal of Albion Moonlight is a work of unmistakable genius. Nothing like it has been written since the inception of our literature . . . in all English literature it stands alone. I say earnestly that I know of no other American writer capable of giving us such a naked, truthful, fearless and harrowing account. Albion Moonlight is the most naked figure of a man I have encountered in all literature." - Henry Miller

Answer 2

Make sure you read Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who is still living, and Allen Ginsburg. Ferlinghetti's "I Am Waiting" is a phenomenal (pun intended) surreal look at the Beat Generation. Coney Island of the Mind is the complete volume. Also try and visit F's Northern Lights bookstore in San Fran. It's worth a trip if you are in the area. Howl is a good collection of poems by Ginsburg. Also poetry by Kenneth Rexroth is excellent.

William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch is a recommended read although it never fails to leave the reader with a queasy sensation. Ken Kesey's books are good, especially One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion. His association with Timothy Leary makes for interesting reading also.
Richard Brautigan's books are also excellent. I recommend Trout Fishing in America. LeRoi Jones wrote some great plays that are worth reading along with his poetry which celebrates his race, back when it was ostensibly a greater curse to be black.
My favorite Jack Kerouac book was The Dharma Bums, mostly because of Neal Cassady (The First Third), although Big Sur, which he co-wrote, is excellent and perhaps his best in the sense that it is well edited.

Answer 3

John Kerouac) (kĕr´wăk´´) , 1922—69, American novelist, b. Lowell, Mass., studied at Columbia Univ. One of the leaders of the beat generation, he was the author of the novel On the Road (1957), widely considered the testament of the beat movement. Kerouac's writings reflect a frenetic, restless pursuit of new sensation and experience, and a disdain for the conventional measures of economic and social success. Among his other works are the novels The Subterraneans (1958), The Dharma Bums (1958), Big Sur (1962), and Desolation Angels (1965); a volume of poetry, Mexico City Blues (1959); and a volume describing his dreams, Book of Dreams (1961).

Answer 4

Of course one has to mention "On the Road", but "The Beat Generation" is also interesting as is "The Subterreaneans."

Other beat writers include: Neal Cassidy, William S. Burroughs, and beat post Alan Ginsberg

Answer 5

the dharma bums. if you liked on the road read it. same thing but a deeper spiritual context. also ginsberg's howl, and burrough's naked lunch. all beat classics. but you could also check out other authors of beat; like norman mailer, thomas pynchon, and of course jim morisson.

Answer 6

what about Chuck Palahniuk?

Answer 7

i have only read one, "On the road" and its pretty damn good