Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac [Paperback]

Gerald Nicosia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 1994

In 1969 Jack Kerouac died a premature death. While his legendary lifestyle and unique creative talent made him a hero in his lifetime, his literary influence has grown steadily since. With Memory Babe (a childhood nickname honoring Kerouac's feats of memory), Gerald Nicosia gives us a complete biography of Jack Kerouac--an honest, discriminating and, above all, compassionate assessment. This edition is enhanced by many rare photographs never before published.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

"To call this book the definitive Kerouac biography is an understatement," said LJ's reviewer at its 1983 debut (LJ 4/15/83). Many other critics felt the same, as did several of Kerouac's friends. This edition has been updated with a new foreword and many new photographs. Though Kerouac was snubbed by the critics of his day, time has shown that his seemingly mad musings could have been the offspring of a one-night stand between those of Gertrude Stein and James Joyce. Essential for all literary biography collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A splendid work, illuminating the pathos of a beautiful young novelist who, like Elvis Presley, became an object of derision when he dared to age. . . . Whether or not a reader agrees with Nicosia's evaluation of Kerouac as a 'great' writer, he persuades the reader to return to Kerouac's work." -- John Rechy, Los Angeles Times

"Memory Babe [is] the most relentless and thoroughly researched of the Kerouac biographies. . . . There is a day-by-day tracing of Kerouac's thoughts and movements astonishing in its exactitude. . . . For those who believe Kerouac was a great writer, there is no more useful guide to the Duluoz Legend, as Kerouac called his pantheon of novels." -- Barry Gifford, USA Today

"[Memory Babe] meshes well with Kerouac's own books, paraphrasing them, putting their story in chronological order and fleshing out the autobiographical legend." -- Morris Dickstein, New York Times Book Review

"[Nicosia] offers us an unsparing, complex, and finally compelling portrait of a writer who remains in the end, far though he fell, as large-souled as his admirers have always claimed him to be." -- Adam Gussow, American Book Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 767 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (February 23, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520085698
• ISBN-13: 978-0520085695
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #470,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Midwest Book Review - riveting bio, skillfully written, October 14, 2003

By 

Laurel Johnson (Kansas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac (Paperback)

Chronologically, from birth to death, author Nicosia tells Kerouac's life story with unflinching honesty and utmost respect. Blessed with a sharp memory, very early on Jack's childhood friends nicknamed him "Memory Babe" and that is where the book got its name. Packed with fascinating details and exquisitely written, this book needs to be discovered by a younger generation of readers.

Many of us alive today have heard of Jack Kerouac but I doubt few know the details of his tragic life. That he remains the voice of a generation and a literary icon goes without saying. Kerouac was a physically beautiful but emotionally flawed man with a tormented spirit. He spent his life as man and writer trying to prove that "the past is the root of the future, and that a man cannot live without the continuity of both." Jack remembered everything he heard, as if words were sacred and his mind was a sponge. Despite his many flaws, he always paid "exquisite attention to the sound of language."

Even as he mapped new territory as a writer, Kerouac was adrift as a man. As the first spokesman for the "beat" generation, he perfected that voice with guilt, self-doubt, and self-punishment. This biography clearly states Jack's definition of "beat": "beat down, beat up, all-tired-out." Still, his words were always carefully chosen. Word by word, Kerouac carefully created phrases to express time, place, emotion, and man's senses, communicating deep meaning. His writing was full of symbolism and visions, allegory and veiled reality, profanity and parody, as he groped his way with prose towards his own death. For his time, Kerouac's verbal ingenuity was unsurpassed.

Personally, his charismatic male persona disguised a quicksilver child, mischievous and unpredictable. As he aged, Jack became a brooding, paranoid, hard drinking drug user, insecure in his sexuality and prone to alcoholic blackouts. As addiction wrecked his health, his light slowly drowned out and he became a lonely and despairing figure. But for decades in between youth and death, this trusting, shy, socially awkward man became a literary legend.

Jack Kerouac rubbed shoulders with Jackson Pollock, Allen Ginsberg, and every jazz great of his day. He was published by several of the major New York publishing houses. His prose and poetry were unprecedented and have not been successfully imitated since. He died young, never fully realizing the effect of his mind and his work on subsequent generations.

Gerald Nicosia has penned THE definitive biography of Kerouac. From letters, journals, tapes, interviews, and Jack Kerouac's books themselves - all faithfully recorded in a detailed bibliography - the author has skillfully dissected the life of the "beat" generation's strongest voice. The result is both scholarly and deeply personal, touching and disturbing. It should be required reading in every college and university, and a must have book for any reader curious about Kerouac and his time.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is The Best Kerouac Biography By Far, March 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac (Paperback)

I have read and own virtually everything that Jack Kerouac has written, and most of his biographies, and believe that this is the best one, by far. This is the most bang for your buck, I would say this book in hardcover should be worth about $50 to the true Kerouac fan. If anyone truly "understands" Jack (as much as anyone, especially someone this brilliant and complex can be completely understood), it's Gerald Nicosia, a great writer in his own right. I hope to meet him someday to thank him for this wonderful book. The Diamond Sutra = Compassion.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly, challenging, September 17, 2001

By 

Mark Nave (Palm City, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac (Paperback)

Of the two best-known Kerouac biographies -- the other being Ann Charters' -- Memory Babe is by far the more scholarly. Challenging and difficult, Gerald Nicosia's Memory Babe still entertains. Memory Babe is a treasure-trove, but not for the light reader.