Books

First edition, first printing, of Kerouac's "comeback" novel, a stark depiction of the self-destructive trajectory of his life after the success of On the Road. "Craving both solitude and genuine companionship, his fictional counterpart Jack Duluoz careens from the retreat of a cabin at Big Sur to San Francisco's North Beach and back. The novel offers one of the most arresting treatments of alcoholism in modern literature, and although it ends with the narrator experiencing the vision of the Cross of Christian redemption, Kerouac himself was unable to recover from the depths he plumbed in his writing" (ANB). Octavo. Original black cloth backing blue marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt, top edge blue. With dust jacket. Ink stamp of the Bookstall, Vancouver, on rear free endpaper; neat ink annotation on verso of jacket. Spine ends and corners lightly bumped, spine ends just sunned, spot of wear to lower corner of front cover; jacket price-clipped with neat tape repair on verso, a few faint marks, edges a little nicked: a near-fine copy in very good jacket. Charters A17.

In 'Big Sur', Jack Kerouac, under the pseudonym Jack Duluoz, details his struggle with fame after the success of 'On the Road', his descent into alcoholism, and his quest for solace in nature. Set against the backdrop of California's coastline, the narrative flows with Kerouac's stream of consciousness and reflects his internal turmoil and quest for redemption.