Jack's Book

“Jack’s Book is first rate…it offers the flavor and depth of good fiction while keeping well within the realm of literal truth.”


“I suggest you read Jack’s Book…Mr. Gifford and Mr. Lee seem to have interviewed everyone connected with Kerouac.”
— Vincent Canby

“The greatest value of Jack’s Book…lies in the richness and depth…it is dynamic, mixing exceptionally well-written biography with oral journalism…it adds richness and depth to the previous portraits.”


“A fascinating literary and historical document, the most insightful look at the beat generation.”
— Dan Wakefield

“There have been biographies of Kerouac, but this is an entirely different and much more satisfying work…not a static portrait, but a slow-moving picture of a man unfolding from childhood to heartbreak end; a drama whose focus or clarity or completeness changes depending on who’s holding the camera.  An engrossing tale.”


“A very immediate, crisp addition to the Kerouac papers—lively in its interspliced rhythms and…compelling.”


“If you’re interested in listening to what the talk of the Fifties sounded like, and if you believe that literature may just have something to do with life, then read this book.”


“My God, it’s just like Rashomon.  Everybody lies and the truth comes out.”
— Allen Ginsberg

“To read Jack’s Book is to be present at a gathering of Kerouac’s friends, colleagues, lovers, even his…enemies—of all the lives of Kerouac I have read, this one has the most life.”
— James Campbell

“I consider Jack’s Book an essential text—it gives a far more authentic and balanced picture of Jack than any existing biography.”
— Joyce Johnson