Author(s): Jack Kerouac; Jacques Beckwith (As told to); Lois Sorrells Beckwith (As told to)

Essays & Letters

A book of letters revealing the inner desires and turmoils of Jack Kerouac after his rise to literary acclaim in the 1960s.In 1960, Jack Kerouac began a correspondence with a New York artist by the name of Jacques Beckwith. The basic subject of their letters was always the same. They each longed to build a cabin in the forest which would serve as a retreat from the pressure and disappointment of the outside world. "I want to live in the woods where I don't even have to think about this evil world of wars and dishonesties," Kerouac wrote. Beckwith offered to help Jack design and build his retreat, but after years of planning only Jacques realized the dream. The world was too much with Kerouac.

Alcoholism, a paternity suit, travel, the demands of a writing career, marriage, and eventually his mother's declining health kept him from making his break. These letters document all these distractions and frustrations and reveal Kerouac's desire for the solitude which Beckwith found in the New England woods.