The Epic Jack Kerouac Bibliography
1. Bartlett, Lee, ed. The Beats: Essays in Criticism. London: McFarland, 1981. This is a collection of critical essays exploring Beat literature and Beat writers. Two essays specifically address Kerouac: "The Dionysian Vision of Jack Kerouac," by Lee Bartlett, and "The Delicate Dynamics of Friendship: A Reconsideration of Kerouac's On the Road," written by George Dardess. The former essay examines the philosophy of Kerouac's style; the latter examines the structure of On the Road.
2. Beissinger, Margaret, Jane Tylus, Susanne Wofford, eds. Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World. Berkley: University of California Press, 1999. This collection of essays examine the epic and the contemporary uses of the genre. This is basically a cross-cultural examination, and one that attempts to sort out a universal definition of the epic that is applicable in modern times. One particularly interesting quote is that, "the thematic kernel of this volume is the idea that the dynamics of epic, both oral and literary, are created and sustained through the challenging of boundaries - boundaries of genre, gender, locality, and language."
3. Charters, Ann. Kerouac. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Books, 1973. A straight-forward, yet intensely personal biography of Jack Kerouac. Charters proves her unofficial reputation as resident expert on the man with this biography. Much of the material was gathered first hand from Kerouac and his friends, letters, and previously published interviews. The highlight of Charter's work is a small section which is dedicated to listing the books which correspond to the events in Kerouac's life.
4. Charters, Ann, ed. The Portable Beat Reader. New York: Penguin, 1992. Charters' collection of excerpts, letters, and critical introductions provides a foundation for understanding the personalities, motivations, and conflicts in the Beat Generation. A historical background is provided , as well as insight into the intimate relationships between the writers. This information, collected in letters and Charters' introductions, lends itself well to the exploration of the value system employed in On the Road.
5. Charters, Ann, ed. The Portable Jack Kerouac. New York: Penguin, 1995. This anthology is a comprehensive guidebook to the life and works of Jack Kerouac. It includes selections from novels and poetry collections, critical introductions, letters from Jack Kerouac, and articles written by, and about, Kerouac. Because of her close relationship to Kerouac, Ann Charters' insight is particularly valuable in evaluating Kerouac's work. Of particular interest is his letter describing his intention for an epic collection.
6. French, Warren. Jack Kerouac. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1986. An insightful and unique look at Kerouac's work and life. French writes a biography, breaking Kerouac's life into sections and discussing them chronologically. He augments the biography with close reading of Kerouac's works that take place during those times of Kerouac's life, even though they were not written during those periods.
7. Goldstein, N.W. "Kerouac's On the Road." Explicator 50.1 (1991): 60-3 This a very short article, focusing on one symbol, the wandering old man, in On the Road. Goldstein reads the hobo's character religiously, which is an acceptable reading.
8. Hunt, Tim. Kerouac's Crooked Road. Hamden: Archon Books, 1981. Hunt introduces this book with an emphatic defense of Kerouac as not only an important literary figure, but as more than a pop-culture icon. Hunt compares On the Road with its companion text, Visions of Cody, which Kerouac considered the final draft of On the Road. This resource offers an excellent examination of Kerouac thematically and stylistically.
9. Johnson, Ronna C. " 'You're Putting Me On': Jack Kerouac and the Postmodern Emergence." College Literature. 27.1 (2000): 22-17. This article attempts to show a link between the postmodern aspects of Kerouac' life, and the postmodern aspects of his work. While I am not interested in postmodern readings of his work, I am interested in how aspects of his culture are portrayed in his work. Much is made in the article of Kerouac's celebrity status as well as his feelings toward the commercialization of his work. This will likely prove irrelevant, as On the Road was written before his fame took hold. The idea that he was struggling with the values of post-war America, is also part of the author's argument.
10. Jones, James T. Jack Kerouac's Duluoz Legend. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1999. This is a psychoanalytic critique of Kerouac's abstract, and unrealized, project, the Duluoz legend. Hunt posits that the entirety of Kerouac's work is a modern re-telling of the Oedipus myth. Jones' approach is two-fold: one reading which examines the conscious efforts by Kerouac to re-approach this theme, and a Freudian examination of the subconscious results of Kerouac's relationship with his mother.
11. Kwiat, Joseph J., and Mary C. Turpie, eds. Studies in American Culture: Dominant Ideas and Images. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1960. The book is absolutely priceless because of its date. It's a collection of essays written by university professors in the late 1950s, when Kerouac was writing. Topics range from "Singing Immigrants and Pioneers," to "The Meaning of Lindbergh's Flight."
12. Merchant, Paul. The Epic. Jump, Jon D., ed. London: Meuthen & Co., 1971. This is a general definition of the epic, essentially a starting place for understanding the genre. Merchant breaks up the discussion into time periods: Classical, including Homeric poems and the Bible; New Form, such as works of Dante; Renaissance and Later, with a discussion of Spenser's Faerie Queen; and a discussion of the modern epic.
13. Miller, Dean A. The Epic Hero. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 200. An extremely comprehensive and dense exploration of this literary stereotype. Miller utilizes classical texts ranging from Homer to Shakespeare for a working definition of the epic hero. In many ways he profiles the epic hero, like a forensic specialist might profile a suspect, so that we may see the tradition as fluid.
14. Mortenson, Erik R. "Beating Time: Configurations of Temporality in Jack Kerouac's On the Road." College Literature 28.3 (2001):51-17. An interesting yet largely abstract article dealing with the philosophy of time in On the Road. The thesis is that On the Road is an attack on the capitalist's use of time in post-war America. This is a daunting thesis to prove, as the author admits that On the Road is inconsistent in its treatment of time. Still, an examination of this particular value system in On the Road is a helpful addition to the commentary already collected.
15. Theado, Matt. Understanding Jack Kerouac. Columbia: University of South Carolina, 2000. One book in a collection published by the University of South Carolina titles Understanding Contemporary Literature. This volume contains biographical information, and critical examinations of Kerouac's work. The dealing with On the Road specifically deals with the necessity of the journey is Kerouac's work, which will be helpful in examining the work as an epic.
