This little book has over seventy (70) poems of various lengths, in
free verse, all but one of which are in English
(the one in French has
an
English version on the facing pages).
Although the book was published posthumously (Kerouac died in 1969), he
prepared this volumes for City Lights Books before he died.
Jack Kerouac in one of the seminal influences on modern poets, in the
United States and Canada in particular (both in English and French).
Many of those influenced by him are included in various anthologies,
but Kerouac himself rarely is. If one wishes to feel or see his
influence, one has to find collections of his poetry such as this. This
poetry is both seminal to, and exemplary of, the BEAT
movement, a
primary artistic direction during the post-WWII and mid-twentieth
century in America.
Allen Ginsberg has written the introduction to the work. One part
discusses Jack Kerouac himself; the second part discusses the Beat
Movement in the United States.