Here we have the King of the Beat Bohemians. Don’t label him a beatnik as that is semi-pejorative: a play on sputnik and a media stereotype. In the face of being labeled the term he responded: “I’m not a beatnik, I’m a Catholic.” *Swoon.*
Reasons why I ♡ JK:
- He’s handsome
- He’s athletic
- He’s poetic
- He’s a great writer
- He’s Catholic
Literally my Dream list of what I want in the opposite sex. Sometime I get in a dreamy state and feel we’re star-crossed lovers lost in time, I’ll always hold in my mind that I was supposed to be with someone like him. It is so rare for a soul to embody good looks that are superficially satisfying plus depth, sensitivity and intellect and a somewhat morose life tainted in darkness that only make you fall more in love with them even more…. His life sometimes parallels with mine in some ways a la Big Sur minus the booze. I ran out to California just as he did…..
I’ve known of him since I was 15, before On The Road became a movie. I think I was the only kid in my school who knew he was.
In the Spring of 2015 his work raised from the dead- kind of. The Haunted Life was a lost Novella of Kerouac’s. I wish I could say I’ve read all his books but I just can’t face it, some them are too intense like Big Sur and his co-written book with fellow Beat Burroughs And the Hippos were boiled in their tanks.
Film adaptations of Kerouac’s book and life: