On The Road for 50 Years
By Craig Morgan Teicher -- Publishers Weekly, 8/27/2007
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Viking first publishing Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel On The Road, Penguin and other publishers are releasing new books and reissues, and events are planned around the country. PW is marking the occasion by running an exclusive excerpt from a memoir by Sterling Lord, Kerouac's agent, in this week's issue. You can read the full chapter online.
A number of other publications will also be running Kerouac features. Kerouac’s companion and Minor Characters author Joyce Johnson will publish a Kerouac piece in the September issue of Vanity Fair. Also, check out Gilbert Millstein’s NY Times daily review of On The Road, published the day the book came out, which sent Kerouac's fame soaring.
Here are a few of the Kerouac events happening this fall:
On The Road at 50: A Celebration of Jack Kerouac
9/5/2007
A TimesTalks Panel
The Lighthouse Theatre, 111 East 59 St., NY, NY
Featuring Douglas Brinkley, Billy Collins and Joyce Johnson
Moderated by John Leland
See most of the authors and editors of the Kerouac book onslaught—Brinkley edited the Library of America volume, Johnson’s memoir is being reissued for the anniversary and moderator Leland’s new critical book on Kerouac is at the top of Viking’s list—in one place on the big day.
Back On The Road
Harvard Bookstore at Brattle Theatre
9/6/2007
Featuring John Leland and Joyce Johnson
If you haven’t had enough of Leland and Johnson, or simply live in Boston rather than New York, they’ll be in Beantown the next day.
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival
Lowell, Massachusettes
10/4/2007-10/7/2007
Kerouac was born in Lowell, and the city keeps a strong Kerouac presence alive all year round with a park named after the author. The original scroll is there right now, and will be through the end of this annual festival, which features four days of talks, readings, and events in what may be the most Kerouac-oriented town in America.
Beatific Soul: Jack Kerouac on the Road
New York Public Library: Main Branch
11/9/2007-3/16/2008
This may top the list of Kerouac pilgrimage destination this fall: the original scroll will be on display through 2/22/2008, along with a wide array of original manuscripts and other rare Kerouac materials from the library’s own collection.
There will be other readings and events at Olssons Books & Records in Washington D.C. on 9/19/2007; at Tattered Cover in Denver, CO on 9/20; at Booksmith in San Francisco on 9/22; and in New York throughout the fall. Leland and Johnson will also be at the Philadelphia Public Library on 10/4/2007.
