Chamblee54

This is a repost from 2008, inspired by Jack Kerouac: An Appreciation. JKAA appeared in KIKO’S HOUSE, a blog I read in 2008. Kiko’s was the retirement project of Shaun Mullen, an journalist who was “born to blog.” People said things like that when W was president. Kikos published its last post 12/11/2019, the day before Shaun Mullen died. Chamblee54 is still going, which makes writing about Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac much easier.
Over the years, I keep lists of posts. While writing this feature, I learned that I never compiled one for JLLK. I knew there was an extended book report covering “On The Road,” and vaguely remembered doing one for “The Dharma Bums.” The next step was to use Google Advanced Search, which does not work for “Dharma site: chamblee54.wordpress.com.” If you substitute bums for dharma, you are referred to something about Charles Bukowski. I did a GAS search for Kerouac, and found a series about “Satori in Paris” which I had totally forgotten. I also found a story about starting work on “The Dharma Bums” and used it to track down the posts.
From “The Dharma Bums Part Four” … This chapter by chapter thing is not working. The idea is to use this as a springboard for improvisation, to say whatever comes up. This does not seem to be happening. Tdb is a worthwhile read, the first time. Reading it twice, while taking notes, is not a good idea. … While in Corte Madera, there are a lot of wild parties. It is the sort of boho thing the rest of America tittered about…. Dwight Eisenhower got reelected. He is not mentioned in tdb, but his buddy Richard Nixon is. We know how that story turned out.
JLLK published BELIEF & TECHNIQUE FOR MODERN PROSE in the Summer 1958 edition of Evergreen Review. … 6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind 7. Blow as deep as you want to blow 8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind 9. The unspeakable visions of the individual 10. No time for poetry but exactly what is 11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest 12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you 13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition 14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time 15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
From Kerouac … I read OTR, and found it entertaining but not life changing. I get the sense that Kerouac and Cassidy could be real jerks. … OTR was published in 1957, when I was three years old and living on a street of always pregnant stay at home moms. … I suspect that if Jack Kerouac had not written his books that someone else would have, and maybe survived fame in better shape. … At one time, Kerouac was staying with Neal Cassidy (his uncredited co author) and his family. Mr. Cassidy thought that Mr. Keruac was smoking too much marijuana.
I saw Allan Gurganus (no middle name) at the Dickhater Book Festival in 2014. I knew AG was from Rocky Mount NC, and that JLLK once spent a winter there. This was described in “The Dharma Bums.” AG would have been about seven years old. I wanted to ask AG about it in the Q&A, but I did not get called on. After the talk was over, I managed to talk to AG in a hallway. “Yes, it really did happen. The place where he used to go meditate was my grandfather’s property.”
The pictures today are from The Library of Congress Marjory Collins took the featured photograph in February 1943. “New York, New York. Band in an Irish-American restaurant O’Reilly’s at Third Avenue and Fifty-Fourth Street, on Saturday night.” Chamblee54 has published expanded book reports about “Satori in Paris” 031211 032211 032911 040711 · “The Dharma Bums” 111713 113013 122213 011314 · “On The Road” 060119 061119 062519 062719 071019 071419 073019 · selah