Jack Kerouac attended Horace Mann School for Boys, Lowell High School and Columbia University in New York City. “Kerouac was known as a football star at Lowell High School and received a scholarship to Columbia University...” (Jack Ke

Kerouac’s first novel in 1945, The Town and the City, was one that many enjoyed, but did not make him famous. “His friends loved the manuscript, and Ginsberg asked his Columbia professor to find a publisher…”(Lit Kicks: Jack Kerouac). Kerouac’s novel was published in 1950. It earned him respect and some recognition as a writer. “Kerouac already began writing a novel about the torments he suffered as he tried to balance his wild city life with his old-world family values...” (Lit Kicks: Jack Kerouac). Kerouac was tormented by his city life because he was brought up in an old-world environment. His early work started him on a path to be an American icon, and produce work in his later years, which made him famous.

Jack Kerouac was influenced by the usage of drugs and alcohol. “His loosely structured autobiographical works reflected a peripatetic life, with warm but stormy relationships, and a deep social disillusionment, assuaged by drugs, alcohol, mysticism, and biting humor…”(Jack Kerouac). Kerouac had an unstructured lifestyle that kept him searching for ways of enlightenment. He was a strong believer of the Buddhist religion, and he used drugs and alcohol in hopes of improving life and relationships. “In 1961, Jack Kerouac attempted to break his drinking habit and rediscover his writing talents…”(Jack Kerouac) Kerouac’s drinking impaired his writing, and he was no longer taken seriously. His last novel, Big Sur was the result of a story recalled when he was intoxicated. He went on a nature retreat to Bixby Canyon, Big Sur. The nature startled him, so his novel was based on the chilling experience.

“Jack Kerouac.” Oct 5, 2002. Nov 7, 2002. http://www.levity.com/corduroy/kerouac.htm

Kerouac created and lived the Beat Generation. “The Beat Generation was a group of American writers in the 1950’s. Their writing expressed profound dissatisfaction with contemporary American society...”(Search Plus- Beat). Jack Kerouac and Allan Ginsberg were the best-known figures of the Beat Movement. They met at Columbia University in the 1940’s, and began to write about their set of values. “Beat

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