2019 Reprint of 1959 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. "Set in the close-knit working-class French-Canadian community of Lowell, Massachusetts, Maggie Cassidy is a semi-autobiographical account of Kerouac's adolescence. The story is recounted through the teenage mind of the author's alter ego, Jack Duluoz, a high school athletics and American football star. Maggie Cassidy is a meditation on being in love and youthful innocence. A memoir of the fantasy-filled memories of adolescent years spent male bonding with his 'corner boys', recollecting on his mother's expectations and time spent with his father, it is above all an account of his first love, high-school sweetheart, Maggie Cassidy. The romantic relationship is adeptly portrayed as a pure, passionate, exuberant love, narrated with deep and profound insights. Towards the end of the book Jack moves to a school in New York on a sports scholarship, leaving Maggie behind in Lowell. The culmination of the story comes three years later when Jack, now a man, visits her there. With the passage of time and the resulting altered motives and desires, the innocence has been lost and the resulting liaison is unfulfilled. Perhaps the ending is illustrative of the nature of Kerouac's own adulthood relationships." Guy Portman's Blog. Though one of the author's less well known books, Maggie Cassidy is a captivating work that utilizes long sentences and a fluid narrative style - the hallmark of the experimental, spontaneous writing form, pioneered by Kerouac, the reluctant leader of The Beat Generation.
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac was an American novelist and poet known for his spontaneous prose style and association with the Beat Generation. His most notable works include "On the Road" and "The Dharma Bums," which explore themes of freedom, spirituality, and the search for meaning in life. Kerouac's writing often reflected his own experiences traveling across America and his interest in jazz music and Eastern philosophy. His work had a significant impact on literature, influencing future generations of writers and shaping the countercultural movement of the 1950s and 1960s. "On the Road" remains his most famous work, celebrated for its exploration of the American road trip and its portrayal of the Beat Generation's quest for authenticity and self-discovery.
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Truth and Beautiful Meaningful Lies
A Collection of Jack Kerouac Quotes
