Hail! Jack Kerouac

Mr. Kerouac, where do you reside? With your beer-soaked breath, and your fat white belly; wherever did you go? You left, misunderstood, not fully appreciated, and with a scowl on your face. You were mad, spitting drunk, and you died from a little blood, let loose to flood your organs and give you up to the mad hatter Creator you believed in so fervently.

Jack, Kerouac, come; come wherever you are.

How does one summon Jack Kerouac? Mr. On the Road; Big Sur, Haiku(s). Mr. Dharma Bum. How do you speak with Kerouac, and ask him why the hell he fucked up so badly. Why he left his family. Would you like to just say he meant a lot to you, even though you read him almost forty years after his stupid, immature death?

Well, you can summon Jack Kerouac by buying two liters of whiskey. To begin, you will want to drink the first liter, tainting its kiss with nothing except a grimace and a sigh. Next, you should break something, like a lamp, or a vase, or a mirror. Break something loud, dramatic, and, hopefully, regretful. Next, sip on the second liter of whiskey, and begin to cry. Whisper to the dark room, where you sit by yourself, that nobody understands you, and that you're not afraid to die, you're just too goddamn religious to do it yourself. Whisper that. Think of Jack, and whisper those things with full-on meaning. He'll come. He'll be there any minute.

And if Neal Cassady shows up, ask for his help. He's likely to spit in your face and ask you where your sister, or your mother, or your wife, is at. Don't tell him, because he'll make good on your "offer."

If Jack doesn't show up, don't despair. He hardly ever shows his face anymore. It's too bloated, and whiskey(ed) up. It's okay to scream how much you hate him. It's all right to yell a little, and holler about why he's so damn elusive, and enigmatic all of the time. Tell him, he hasn't heard it before, that he could have had such a long, prosperous life, living as long or longer than Allen Ginsburg. He could have slept with Allen. They could have been lovers. The hippie and the conservative. Ishmael and Queequeg. Leg over leg, arms entangled, genitalia nobodies business.

Offer an incantation: To Kerouac, how they loved you. To Jack, how we do still. You aren't ever going to go away. We'll burn your words and send the smoke, offering you praise, but hang our heads in shame.

Editing Kerouac

Jack Kerouac is famous for his two week tryst of benzedrine and coffee fueled writing, which led to the breakthrough 'On the Road.' The infamous picture is of a writer, hunched over his typewriter, typing furiously, taking pills and slugging cups of coffee, in the confines of his private room, telling a tale, spontaneously as it came, depicting the prior four years of his life as he criss-crossed the United States with the unforgettable Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady). His manuscript of 'On the Road' is a scroll, taped together and worth big bucks. It unrolls over one hundred feet, and is really an American relic, produced by one of the most mysterious writers the North American continent has ever produced.

But is it all true?

Jack Kerouac is famous for his supposed belief of no revision. He is said to have written spontaneously, and whatever he wrote remained, untouched, and ready to be published. He loved the errors and all. But that is untrue. Pertaining to his American opus, 'On the Road,' Kerouac revised many times, contradictory to the legend. He actually worked on that piece for four or more years, compiling notes and journal entries from his travels. It was his work in progress. And while it may be true he sat down and hammered it out in the space of a few weeks, the majority of the plot and memories had been recorded and written down, needing only to be patched together and put in a coherent manner. And Kerouac revised like hell. He worked on his manuscript like any other author would have, and even sent it away to a friend to read first. The friend suggested Kerouac provide more centering on the story's main character, Dean Moriarty. Kerouac understood his friend's critique and put Dean center stage.

The misconception of Kerouac being the great Non-Revisor might have originated with the fact that the author refused to let the editor at the publishing house make certain changes to the 'On the Road' manuscript. That somehow became the genesis for Kerouac not believing in revision to his work, and keeping 'On the Road' as is, with no care or concern for criticism. Like any author, Kerouac was obstinate on what keeping 'On the Road' as he'd sent it to the publishing house, and not as it was after he supposedly slapped it together in the space of two weeks. In truth, the manuscript had been worked and reworked, in pieces and sections, for at least four years.

But the legend remains, and it's a beautiful one.

Kerouac's 'On the Road'

A possible reason to enjoy and write about Kerouac's 'On the Road' lies in its use of hyperbole and folkloric feel. Kerouac delves into the antiquated art of telling a "tall tale" when he writes on the road and, more importantly, sketches the bigger than life character, Dean Moriarty. Kerouac speaks of highs and lows in life, surrounding his narrative on the characters, based on real people, that enter and exit his life like a stage show. Carlo Marx, who is understood to be the real world Alan Ginsburg, plays the angry, mad poet, designing words and spitting phrases that come off as anti-American, anti-imperialism, and anti-society. He is only one example of a character who reigns supreme in his own right, and holds his ground in the reader's mind, even though he never gets the attention that other characters do, like the illustrious, Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty).

The tall tale is important to keep in mind when reading Kerouac's 'On the Road' as it could be compared to a debaucherous Paul Bunyan tale. Kerouac speaks of Dean, the crazy, maddest character of them all, infamously driving through the treacherous Sierra Nevadas without using either brake or gas pedal, but simply coasting, shouting "Whoo-ee" the entire way as his jalopy swings and dives around sharp turns and corners, nearly careening over the edge. Kerouac mentions that he feels safe, as long as Dean is at the wheel. This is only one small aspect of Kerouac utilizing the "tale tale" effect when describing his traveling days.

Another tall tale element derives from a wonderful paragraph written by Kerouac as he describes the fervor with which Dean travels from East to visit Jack in Denver. Dean has heard, through the grapevine, that Jack (Sal, actually, in the novel) is going to go to Mexico. Dean, who has finally decided to settle down with one woman and his child, picks up seemingly in an instant, and descend his magical character force upon the West. Kerouac describes this as following:

Suddenly I had a vision of Dean, a burning shuddering frightful Angel, palpitating towards me across the road, approaching like a cloud, with enormous speed, pursuing me like the Shrouded Traveller on the plain, bearing down on me. I saw his huge face over the plains with the mad, bony purpose and the gleaming eyes; I saw his wings; I saw his old jalopy chariot with thousands of sparking flames shooting out from it; I saw the path it burned over the road...destroying bridges, drying rivers. It came like wrath to the West. I knew Dean had gone mad again.

This paragraph manifests Kerouac's desire to paint Dean Moriarity as something transcendant of human quality, moving over the earth like a specter, like the "Angel" of death, doing what he is best at doing: going mad. Again. Kerouac uses descriptions like, "shuddering, burning, frightful," "huge face," and "jalopy chariot," giving Dean an otherworldly presence.

This would be a great paper topic, especially when combined with a polished understanding of what a tall tale is, and being familiar with some of the famous stories that have come to be known as "tall tales."