|
| |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
DRINKS FEATURES
INFAMOUS DRINKERS FROM HISTORY
JACK KEROUAC
Author Jack Kerouac (1922 – 1969) shot to fame with the publication of his best known novel ‘On The Road’. The story goes that he wrote it in three weeks flat on one long continuous scroll of paper – how close this is top the truth is hard to say, but when the book came out and he exploded onto the literary scene, this romantic idea was impossible for the American public to resist.
‘On the Road’ is widely cited as the defining novel of the ‘beat generation’ – a group of bohemian writers and intellectuals who embraced an alternative lifestyle outside of the conservative American mainstream. Kerouac found the sudden fame and attention difficult to deal with, however, and this may have been one of the factors in him becoming the most notorious drinker of the beat generation.
Shortly after he shot to fame, Kerouac moved to Northport to and bought a house for himself and his mother, where drinking began to play an even greater role in his life. His alcoholic beverages of choice were beer, brandy or cheap sweet wine. One of his favourite bars was called Gunthers - where he would come in with very little money and somehow still end up blind drunk. He apparently managed this by sneaking a bottle of booze into the pub in his bag and drinking it in the toilet.
He was a legendary figure amongst the local students, and although he would often complain about the attention they gave him, he still managed to get himself involved in various escapades with them – once getting chased out of the state by police and falling asleep drunk in the woods.
Like many troubled intellectuals before him, the demon drink was to prove his downfall, but he is still one of America’s most celebrated literary figures today, and his revolutionary and uninhibited writing style makes him undoubtedly one of the most influential writers of his generation. |
|
|
|
|
