The Subterraneans


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A tortured, sweet little love poem for the wrong girl at the wrong time, and probably Jack Kerouac's best book. I like Dr. Sax a lot, too, but this book has a lot of heart.

When I think of the hours I spent reading Kerouac as a teenager I wonder if anyone else really understands the irrational unexpected response I had to his writing.

He's the only author I've read who has colors in his works. The Subterraneans is a deep blue and black color, Dr. Sax is a gritty varnish brown.

If you've never read any Kerouac, he has this breathless grammarless out-of-control style that careens down the mind's paths as fast as his fingers could type until the pure pace of true thought came as close to the surface of organized writing as possible. It was called stream of conciousness writing, and some people don't like it. You have to be able to keep up and let go at the same time.

I will spend many happy hours in my retirement re-writing pages of stuff that I wrote in his voice in my own voice.

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