{"product_id":"book-of-blues-9780140587005","title":"Book of Blues","description":"\u003cb\u003eEight extended poems from the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eOn the Road \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eBig Sur\u003c\/i\u003e--featuring an introduction by Robert Creeley\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBest known for his \"Legend of Duluoz\" novels, Jack Kerouac is also an important poet. In the eight poems collected in \u003ci\u003eBook of Blues\u003c\/i\u003e, Kerouac writes from the heart of experience in the music of language, employing the same instrumental blues form that he used to fullest effect in \u003ci\u003eMexico City Blues\u003c\/i\u003e, his largely unheralded classic of postmodern literature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"In my system, the form of blues choruses is limited by the small page of the breastpocket notebook in which they are written, like the form of a set number of bars in a jazz blues chorus, and so sometimes the word-meaning can carry from one chorus into another, or not, just like the phrase-meaning can carry harmonically from one chorus to another, or not, in jazz, so that, in these blues as in jazz, the form is determined by time, and by the musician's spontaneous phrasing \u0026amp; harmonizing with the beat of time as if waves \u0026amp; waves on by in measured choruses.\"\u003c\/i\u003e--Jack Kerouac \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThese poems include: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- \u003cb\u003eSan Francisco Blues\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e- Richmond Hill Blues\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e- Bowery Blues\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e- MacDougal Street Blues\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e- Desolation Blues\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e- Orizaba 210 Blues\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e- Orlanda Blues\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e- Cerrada Medellin Blues\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEdited by Kerouac himself, \u003ci\u003eBook of Blues \u003c\/i\u003eis an exuberant foray into language and consciousness, rich with imagery, propelled by rhythm, and based in a reverent attentiveness to the moment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJack Kerouac\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1922, the youngest of three children in a Franco-American family. He attended local Catholic and public schools and won a scholarship to Columbia University in New York City, where he first met Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs. His first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Town and the City\u003c\/i\u003e, appeared in 1950, but it was \u003ci\u003eOn the Road\u003c\/i\u003e, published in 1957 and memorializing his adventures with Neal Cassady, that epitomized to the world what became known as the \"Beat generation\" and made Kerouac one of the most best-known writers of his time. Publication of many other books followed, among them \u003ci\u003eThe Dharma Bums\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Subterraneans\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBig Sur\u003c\/i\u003e. Kerouac considered all of his autobiographical fiction to be part of \"one vast book,\" \u003ci\u003eThe Duluoz Legend\u003c\/i\u003e. He died in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1969, at the age of forty-seven.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50648802623762,"sku":"9780140587005","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e24c74a8-0c5c-48ee-9aed-40a3c471fef8.jpg?v=1733249086","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/book-of-blues-9780140587005","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}