Allen Ginsberg residence at 1624 Milvia Street

I am sure I don’t have to introduce Allen Ginsberg on this blog. He lived here in the fall of 1955. According to the plaque at the poetry garden on the other side of the street Kerouac live in a ‘rose-covered cottage’ (Kerouac’s words) but as far as I am aware the cottage actually stood … Continue reading

Happy Birthday Allen Ginsberg

One day late, I know, but this is probably my favorite Allen Ginsberg poem/song. I’m close to tears whenever I listen to this. Sad, but yet it’s also very comforting and beautiful in his quirky way. I also like this photograph a whole lot. R.I.P. Allen Ginsberg

Following The Dharma Bums To Matterhorn Peak (Pt. 2)

Matterhorn Peak, CA

After a good night’s sleep I woke up to a glorious, sunny day filled with fresh air and made my way to Twin Lakes from where you have to start the hike up towards Matterhorn Peak. Driving up the (now paved) road towards Twin Lakes (which is a few miles outside of Bridgeport) felt very … Continue reading

Home I’ll Never Be

Two quite different versions of Kerouac’s Home I’ll Never Be which is also known as On The Road (but I guess that’s more out of commercial interest). A reading of it was apparently released on Kerouac’s On The Road 3-CD set, but I haven’t got that. Tom Waits’ version can be found on his splendid … Continue reading

Following The Dharma Bums To Matterhorn Peak (Pt.1)

As described in this post The Dharma Bums has always been a special book for me and it ranks right up there with On The Road and The Town And The City as one of my favorite books of his. The description of the trip to Bridgeport in the eastern Sierra Nevada and the ‘big … Continue reading

The Dharma Bums, Chapter 34

… , I realized, ‘there is no answer.’ I didn’t know anything any more, I didn’t care, and it didn’t matter, and suddenly I felt really free. The Dharma Bums, Chapter 34

M & M Cigar Store, Butte, Montana

According the Butte America website on which I found the following quote, Jack Kerouac stopped by the M&M Cigar Store  one time. I can’t say when exactly that was, as I don’t know if and when he actually made it this way, but he certainly wrote about Montana quite a few times. It was published … Continue reading

Stuart, Iowa

Where Jack Kerouac ‘took one little walk along the lonely brickwalls illuminated by one lamp, with the prairie brooding at the end of each little street and the smell of corn like dew in the night.’ and ‘… where years later Neal and I were stopped for suspicion in what looked like a stolen Cadillac’. … Continue reading

Jack Kerouac : The Town And The City

Jack Kerouac :  The Town And The City (1950 Harcourt Brace) I don’t really see this post as a book review as such – a lot has been written about Kerouac’s work by people who can do this much better than I ever could, so I just want to share a few thoughts about The … Continue reading

Burning Furiously Beautiful The True Story Of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road

Burning Furiously Beautiful  – The True Story Of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road Paul Maher Jr. & Stephanie Nikolopoulos I head to wait a long time to finally get a copy of Burning Furiously Beautiful, especially since I was determined to wait for the print edition (the ebook one was published a bit earlier). Haven’t … Continue reading