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Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg

The Letters

By Jack Kerouac (Author), Allen Ginsberg (Author), Bill Morgan (Editor), David Stanford (Editor)

Paperback published by Penguin Books (Penguin Books)

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Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg

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About This Book
"[An] essential Beat masterpiece." --The Village Voice.

Perhaps one of the last great dual correspondences of the twentieth century, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters reveals not only the process of creation of the two most celebrated members of the Beat Generation, but also the unfolding of a remarkable friendship of immense pathos and spiritual depth. Through this exhilarating exchange of letters, two-thirds of which have never been published before, Kerouac and Ginsberg emerge first and foremost as writers of artistic passion, innovation, and genius. Vivid and enthralling, the letters, which date from their first meeting in 1944 to Kerouac's untimely death in 1969, chronicle the endless struggle, anguish, and sacrifice involved in giving form to their literary visions.

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"[An] essential Beat masterpiece." --The Village Voice.

Perhaps one of the last great dual correspondences of the twentieth century, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters reveals not only the process of creation of the two most celebrated members of the Beat Generation, but also the unfolding of a remarkable friendship of immense pathos and spiritual depth. Through this exhilarating exchange of letters, two-thirds of which have never been published before, Kerouac and Ginsberg emerge first and foremost as writers of artistic passion, innovation, and genius. Vivid and enthralling, the letters, which date from their first meeting in 1944 to Kerouac's untimely death in 1969, chronicle the endless struggle, anguish, and sacrifice involved in giving form to their literary visions.

Product Details
Paperback (528 pages)
Published: June 28, 2011
Publisher: Penguin Books
Imprint: Penguin Books
ISBN: 9780143119548
Other books byJack Kerouac
(57)
  • Jack Kerouac: Collected Poems: Library of America Series Jacket

    Jack Kerouac: Collected Poems: Library of America Series Jacket
    Poetry was at the center of Jack Kerouac’s sense of mission as a writer. This landmark edition brings together for the first time all Kerouac’s major poetic works—Mexico City Blues, The Scripture of the Golden Eternity, Book of Blues, Pomes All Sizes, Old Angel Midnight, Book of Haikus—along with a rich assortment of his uncollected poems, six published here for the first time. He wrote poetry in every period of his life, in forms as diverse as the classical Japanese haiku, the Buddhist sutra, the spontaneous prose poetry of Old Angel Midnight, and the poetic “blues” he developed in Mexico City Blues and other serial works, seeing himself as “a jazz poet blowing a long blues in an afternoon jam session on Sunday.” Many poets found Kerouac a liberating influence on their work: Robert Creeley called him “a genius at the register of the speaking voice”; for Allen Ginsberg he was “a poetic influence over the entire planet”; and Bob Dylan said that Mexico City Blues was crucial to his own artistic development. Also available in specially-designed jacket (978-1-59853-194-7)
    Visit Book Page

    On the Road (Essential Edition)

    On the Road (Essential Edition)
    (Penguin Essential Edition)
    Jack Kerouac's groundbreaking novel—soon to be a major motion picture with a star-studded cast In what is sure to be one of the major cinematic events of 2012, Jack Kerouac's legendary Beat classic, On the Road, will finally hit the big screen. Directed by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries; Paris, Je T'Aime) and with a cast of some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga), Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams (Julie & Julia, The Fighter), Tom Sturridge, and Viggo Mortensen (the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Road), the film will attract new fans who will be inspired by Kerouac's revolutionary masterwork.
    Visit Book Page

    On the Road

    On the Road
    The Original Scroll
    On the Road chronicles Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent-from East Coast to West Coast to Mexico-with his friend Neal Cassady, "a sideburned hero of the snowy West." Read by Will Patton
    Visit Book Page

    The Dharma Bums

    The Dharma Bums
    (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
    The Dharma Bums was published one year after On the Road made Jack Kerouac a celebrity and a spokesperson for the Beat Generation. Sparked by his contagious zest for life, the novel relates the adventures of an ebullient group of Beatnik seekers in a freewheeling exploration of Buddhism and the search for Truth.
    Visit Book Page

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  • October 29, 2012
    PROGMETAL420
    LibraryThing User

    Inspirational throughout, when they talk about art and writing and all the various philosophies of writing, publishing, etc. It was really fascinating to see the behind the scenes between these great minds, and what they thought about everyone else within their immediate sphere and the related gossip/slander/true opinions. William Gaddis is even mentioned at one point, but just for a sentence, as he used to hang out with them, but wasn't one of them. There are somewhat heavy criticisms of Mailer and Baldwin, but otherwise, it's a "fuck you, Jean," [to Kerouac], "I love you" thing. The most mundane parts were the dealings with the publishing houses and editors, etc., and how long it took them to publish masterpieces that they had worked on and finished a long time before.

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    Inspirational throughout, when they talk about art and writing and all the various philosophies of writing, publishing, etc. It was really fascinating to see the behind the scenes between these great minds, and what they thought about everyone else within their immediate sphere and the related gossip/slander/true opinions. William Gaddis is even mentioned at one point, but just for a sentence, as he used to hang out with them, but wasn't one of them. There are somewhat heavy criticisms of Mailer and Baldwin, but otherwise, it's a "fuck you, Jean," [to Kerouac], "I love you" thing. The most mundane parts were the dealings with the publishing houses and editors, etc., and how long it took them to publish masterpieces that they had worked on and finished a long time before.


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  • May 17, 2010
    via Publishers Weekly

    At times loving, at others blistering, sarcastic, often uncomfortably self-lacerating and intimate, these 200 letters, collected in a heroic editorial effort by Ginsberg biographer Morgan and independent editor Stanford, cover the years 1944-1963, the most fertile in the creative lives of Kerouac and Ginsberg. A disbelieving Ginsberg writes to Kerouac in 1952 that On the Road is unpublishable, while Kerouac asks Ginsberg to treat his magnum opus as the next Ulysses. Kerouac immediately praises Howl in 1955, and in return Ginsberg gives Kerouac the manuscript while recounting, like any hopeful author, how freebies have gone to Eliot, Pound, Faulkner. Throughout, the sometimes sporadic letter writing is filled with fragments of works in progress and pungent observations on the authors and publishing people who influenced them, from Dante and Gide to Malcolm Cowley and Sterling Lord. There also is plenty of gossip about Peter Orlovsky, William Burroughs, and others in the circle. A growing rift concludes the 1950s, as literary fame mixed with alcohol weighs on Kerouac, though these soul brothers reunite through letters of the early 1960s. On receiving Ginsberg's work, Thelonius Monk exclaimed, "It makes sense." In its strange way, so does this intense and offbeat correspondence. (July 12) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

    Show less

    At times loving, at others blistering, sarcastic, often uncomfortably self-lacerating and intimate, these 200 letters, collected in a heroic editorial effort by Ginsberg biographer Morgan and independent editor Stanford, cover the years 1944-1963, the most fertile in the creative lives of Kerouac and Ginsberg. A disbelieving Ginsberg writes to Kerouac in 1952 that On the Road is unpublishable, while Kerouac asks Ginsberg to treat his magnum opus as the next Ulysses. Kerouac immediately praises Howl in 1955, and in return Ginsberg gives Kerouac the manuscript while recounting, like any hopeful author, how freebies have gone to Eliot, Pound, Faulkner. Throughout, the sometimes sporadic letter writing is filled with fragments of works in progress and pungent observations on the authors and publishing people who influenced them, from Dante and Gide to Malcolm Cowley and Sterling Lord. There also is plenty of gossip about Peter Orlovsky, William Burroughs, and others in the circle. A growing rift concludes the 1950s, as literary fame mixed with alcohol weighs on Kerouac, though these soul brothers reunite through letters of the early 1960s. On receiving Ginsberg's work, Thelonius Monk exclaimed, "It makes sense." In its strange way, so does this intense and offbeat correspondence. (July 12) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved


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