Book of Sketches (Penguin Poets)

Published by the Kerouac estate in 2006, from 15 of Kerouac's breast pocket notebooks, BOOK OF SKETCHES charts the journeys of our peripatetic narrator back and forth across the country and then to Europe before a return West. The "sketching" method, developed by Kerouac in the early 50's, reached apotheosis in the 1st section of VISIONS OF CODY, though a case could be made for BOOK OF SKETCHES being exemplar of the methodology. Within the poetic phraseology of the sketches, haiku are embedded like gold and silver in a rock vein: "rain nails kiss/the dance of the shiny/road"--"the weeping willow/waves ten thousand/ goodbyes to the wind"--"Rockies? they have sides that/sink like despair & rise/like hope." On his return East from CA ("nothing down the line but/gray indifference") Kerouac has a layover in NYC. It is October, which, he writes, "sits golden on the'iron old wood & white gulled/rivers." In the "purple/phosphorescent night/fall now pinks the/white pg of life." Kerouac's onomatopoetic usage of language--a distinguishing aspect of his writing--is evident throughout BOOK OF SKETCHES, as in lines "crashby/dingdang of opposite/train"--"wail of the/train/chipachup of the/locomotive"--"crickets repeat the/idiot creek creek," and elsewhere. At his mother's place in Ozone Park Kerouac sketches the laundry, owned by a Chinaman with "little eyes in wrinkled worry/of his pone Yonkers/ Mongoil bone." From Ozone Park Kerouac travels to Tangiers (see DESOLATION ANGELS, pt. 2) then to Paris, London, and back to US and Mexico, and (1957) "saturday Mex City." The book's opening sketches (time spent with his sister Nin and her family in Rocky Mount, NC)--achieve an intimacy lacking in later sketches ,when Kerouac the narrator is alone with only his notebook...Heartache is one of the prominent notes here--heartache and honesty, in an aural feast.

Being a Kerouac-aholic, I bought this without really reading the description. I already owned a book of Kerouac's actual artwork and I assumed (judging by the cover) that this would be a book of actual drawings by him. Once it arrived I realized it was just writing. The writing is of course great because Kerouac is great, so still 5 stars, but I wish it would've had drawings haha.

I know this was an accumulation of Kerouac's observations from the early 1950's until 1957 written in little notebooks...writings that capture the detail of the world (mostly America) as he mentally photographed it and transcribed it ( as a writer's exercise or batting practice)...and I know that he took all these observations and typed them up as a manuscript titled book of sketches...But upon reading this...this stands as the greatest poem ever written about America...

A+++

This book arrived with the following on the cover: ADVANCED UNCORRECTED PROOF. NOT FOR SALE! There may be publisher's typos in this copy, and it seems that selling it is not legal. Therefore, I am skeptical about the honesty of this seller. I do not remember seeing this included in the description when I chose to buy this particular book.

You can see scenes from the books when they were in Jack's notebook

Wonderful addition to my collection and great condition!

Undeveloped. Dullardly. Common.

J'adore ce livre. C'est vraiment la version littéraire d'un croquis en dessin.

This is a beautiful book, which I gave as a gift. It's a handsome little volume with a very nice cut to the pages which gives an uneven edge to the book and looks fantastic. It was very enthusiastically received!

Pensieri, osservazioni, impressioni, schizzi in parole su arte & vita & viaggi del periodo chiave della vita di Kerouac, scritti a mano su taccuini e poi raccolti in questa edizione postuma del 2006. Uno sguardo intimo nell'animo di questa influente figura del 900.

OK!!!

Absolutely love Kerouac, he has been a hero for nearly 20 years. But as the weaker pieces of his canon keep emerging (case in point: The Sea is My Brother) and now this, his Book of Sketches, it just has the feel of a cash cow, or flogging a dead horse - name your animal-based cliche - and this stuff was never published in his time because it is weak and still should not have been. I waded through half the book, very stodgy going, then gave up and skim-read to the end. At a push I could find only ten pages' worth of genuinely printable material worthy of literary merit. The rest was just a blur of words without reference points, and it is dull and boring. It is like having a recording of a virtuoso violinist in his early days screeching and caterwauling through the scales. Even major fans of JK would do well and save their money.