Tag Archives: Jack Kerouac

Belief and Technique for Modern Prose

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Like many adolescents of my generation who had aspirations to engage in a literary life, I was infatuated with the Beat Generation writers. And while I sussed early on that the Jack Kerouac on the page might not be all … Continue reading →

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“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Like many old codgers from my generation, the Beat writer Jack Kerouac had a tremendous influence on my adolescent world view. His seminal novel On The Road encouraged wanderlust for millions of young people, including yours truly. This week marked the centennial … Continue reading →

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in America when the sun goes down

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Last Friday would have been Jack Kerouac’s 99th birthday. One of the online commemorations linked to this extraordinary clip from a 1959 television appearance on the Steve Allen Show. Kerouac reads from On the Road while Allen plays some bluesy jazz … Continue reading →

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I shared a vagrant optimism

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Hunter S. Thompson —”I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, … Continue reading →

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Belief and Technique by Jack Kerouac

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

 

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On the Road

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The iconic artist Ed Ruscha has long been inspired by urban America – its cars, billboards, gas stations and low-slung houses all strung out in a seemingly endless sprawl. The short film below combines images from the Getty Research Institutes’s … Continue reading →

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Literary Road Trips

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

For the last century, American road trips have inspired authors to write great novels and memoirs based on their travels by car, bus, or motorcycle. From F. Scott Fitzgerald to Jack Kerouac the open road has launched a special form … Continue reading →

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American Writers Museum Opens

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

On May 16th, the long-awaited American Writers Museum will open in the heart of Chicago’s tourist district. Located at 108 North Michigan Avenue, not far from the world famous Art Institute and Millennium Park, the museum features multimedia installations, permanent … Continue reading →

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Nowhere to go but everywhere

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere…”

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Steal This Book

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

Vintage/Anchor Books recently tweeted this photo of a “Most Stolen Books” shelf from an unidentified bookstore. I’m not too surprised by the “popularity” of Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, or Henry Miller, but who risks getting arrested to steal a book … Continue reading →

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