Mexico City Blues: 242 Choruses [Paperback]

Jack Kerouac (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1994

Jack Kerouac, who died in 1969 at the age of forty-seven, is renowned as the father of the "beat generation." His eighteen internationally acclaimed books -- including "On the Road, Doctor Sax, The Subterraneans, " and "Lonesome Traveler" -- were important signpost in a new American literature. Here, in "Mexico City Blues, " his only collection of poetry, his voice is as distinctive as in his prose; it roams widely across continents and cultures in a restless search for meaning and expression, giving the verse the unique qualities found in America's most distinctive contribution to music.

Editorial Reviews

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-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (January 12, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802130607
• ISBN-13: 978-0802130600
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spontaneous Bop Prosody, February 9, 2001

By 

Arch Llewellyn "arch-l" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mexico City Blues: 242 Choruses (Paperback)

It took me a while to get beyond the Beat myth and see these poems for what they are--some of the most joyful, goofy and affecting writings of the last century. Jack wrote all 242 choruses--one per notebook page--over six weeks in 1955. His improvised word-jazz was at its peak; the poems are fresh and spontaneous but rarely sloppy (try it yourself if you don't believe me). The Buddhist leanings are a little simple-minded, but simplicity is part of the point. In layout and verbal inventiveness Jack's more experimental than most poets writing today. He combines a love for made-up words and language as pure sound with a lyrical directness that you find more often in pop songs than modern poetry. Hearing Jack read some of these on the Steve Allen record made me realize how rare a thing his poems achieved: sentiment, experiment, tenderness, peace. A moving companion to On the Road.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kerouac and the Blues.., April 7, 2000

By 

Charles Pinney (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Mexico City Blues: 242 Choruses (Paperback)

Jack Kerouac wanted to be known as a jazz poet and with this poem he proves that he is. Mexico City Blues is one of my favorite Kerouac books and a lot of fun to read.

The 242 Choruses are free-spirited and spontaneous, almost like they've been written just before you turn the page. If you've read and enjoyed "On the Road" or "The Dharma Bums" pick this one up and enjoy.

A little Miles Davis, John Coltrane, or Charlie Parker playing in the background will add a whole new dimension. Sweet.

"..Fifty pesos
3 Cheers Forever
It's beautiful to be comfortable
Nirvana here I am.."

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One long, magnificent, riff of the written word...., June 9, 2002

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mexico City Blues: 242 Choruses (Paperback)

I remember when I first stumbled across this book in the early 90's- it was like Christmas came twice that year. You see, I had thought that I had read absolutely everything published by Kerouac, prose and poem. I didn't know this existed, Wow! It is like one long, magnificent blues or jazz riff of the written word. It is a true blues composition because it has genuine soul. The more I think about it, it just might be the best thing that he ever did.
I know this is going to sound outrageous, but the only comparable book of American poetry I can even think of comparing this to would be Whitman's _Leaves of Grass_. Whitman and Kerouac both sang of the same grass roots, mystical, America. And it's still out there, if you shake your mind free of the preconceptions and the [junk]....