Kerouac's Spontaneous Poetics: A Study of the Fiction [Paperback]

Regina Weinreich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2002

While a legend has developed about the man Jack Kerouac, there has not been a thorough study of what he wrote. This is the first book to explore his place in American literature by establishing the total design of his work. Regina Weinreich contends that Kerouac wrote with this "grand design" in mind: that he thought of his works as "one vast book" a "Divine Comedy of Buddha" that he called The Legend of Duluoz. The nature of Kerouac's "spontaneous bop prosody" is discussed in relation to the work of Thomas Wolfe and Henry Miller. Kerouac compared his "loose style" to that of a jazz horn-player sounding one long note. While this explains Kerouac's method, Weinreich seeks further to define the unity of his works, from The Town and the City, On the Road, and Visions of Cody to Desolation Angels and Vanity of Duluoz, which she argues brings the legend full circle. "Regina Weinreich draws together the threads of artistic influences that ultimately define Jack's writing...."—William Burroughs "Regina Weinreich has done Kerouac's work the long overdue favor of the attention of a first rate mind...."—John Clellon Holmes

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (April 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560253878
• ISBN-13: 978-1560253877
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #448,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book Kerouac related book I've ever read., September 10, 2007

By 

Oscar Vogel (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kerouac's Spontaneous Poetics: A Study of the Fiction (Paperback)

For what it's worth, I've read all of Kerouac's books. And I've read at least a dozen books ABOUT Kerouac. "Kerouac's Spontaneous Poetics" by R. Weinreich is by far the best. Reading it was the turning point for me because it opened my eyes to what's most essential about Kerouac, his writing. Now hardly a month goes by that I don't reread parts of this book. I've enjoyed and learned from every single page. What makes it better than the rest is that it's about Kerouac's WRITING more than his life. And that has made all the difference.