Description

Book Synopsis
Jack Kerouac-King of the Beats, unwitting catalyst for the''60s counterculture, ground-breaking author-was a complex and compelling man: a star athlete with a literary bent a spontaneous writer vilified by the New Critics but adored by a large, youthful readership a devout Catholic but aspiring Buddhist a lover of freedom plagued by crippling alcoholism. Desolate Angel follows Kerouac from his childhood in the mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts, to his early years at Columbia where he met Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady, beginning a four-way friendship that became a lifelong obsession. Kerouac''s frenetic cross-country journeys, experiments with drugs and sexuality, travels to Mexico and Tangier, and years of failure, frustration, and depression are recounted with detail and sensitivity. Desolate Angel is a harrowing, compassionate portrait of a man and artist set against an extraordinary social backdrop.

Desolate Angel

    Product form

    A Paperback by Dennis McNally

    £14.99

    Includes FREE delivery

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Mon 9 Nov 2026.

    Out of stock

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of Desolate Angel by Dennis McNally

      Book details

      Publisher Hachette Books
      Published 3/20/2003 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN-13 9780306812224
      978-0306812224
      ISBN-10 0306812223

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Jack Kerouac-King of the Beats, unwitting catalyst for the''60s counterculture, ground-breaking author-was a complex and compelling man: a star athlete with a literary bent a spontaneous writer vilified by the New Critics but adored by a large, youthful readership a devout Catholic but aspiring Buddhist a lover of freedom plagued by crippling alcoholism. Desolate Angel follows Kerouac from his childhood in the mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts, to his early years at Columbia where he met Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady, beginning a four-way friendship that became a lifelong obsession. Kerouac''s frenetic cross-country journeys, experiments with drugs and sexuality, travels to Mexico and Tangier, and years of failure, frustration, and depression are recounted with detail and sensitivity. Desolate Angel is a harrowing, compassionate portrait of a man and artist set against an extraordinary social backdrop.

      Recently viewed products

      © 2026 Book Curl

        • American Express
        • Apple Pay
        • Diners Club
        • Discover
        • Google Pay
        • Maestro
        • Mastercard
        • PayPal
        • Shop Pay
        • Union Pay
        • Visa

        Login

        Forgot your password?

        Don't have an account yet?
        Create account