Writing on the Road “At Night, Till Dawn”

KEROUAC, Jack (1922-1969). Typed letter signed (“Jack”) to “Ed et al” [Bob Burford and Frank Jeffries], 29 April 1949. Unpublished. Quarto. Single leaf; both sides; browned and brittle; a few closed tears. With envelope addressed in type, postmarked Jamaica, New York. Reporting on The Town and the City, On The Road, William Burroughs, and more . In this letter “from the New York front,” Kerouac responds to White's description of the “great times” he, Bob Burford, and Frank Jeffries were having in France: “To think that I sit here sober, woman-less, angling away my time.” “Are you homesick for U.S.A. yet? Let me know when you are, I’ll meet you at the pier with a case of beer.” He was doing revisions on The Town and the City with his editor, and also writing On the Road “at night, till dawn.” The letter also makes the ill-fated announcement: “My family and I have decided to move to Denver this summer.” Kerouac then gives a detailed account of an episode that was to become a famous bit of Beat history: “Vicki [Russell] the redhead, and Hunkey [Herbert Huncke], and a guy called Little Jack moved in on Ginsberg’s apartment in New York. First thing you know they stole $10,000 worth of stuff from a retired detective’s house, and second thing you know they’re all in jail, including innocent too-kindhearted Allen.” Meanwhile William Burroughs had been arrested for guns and narcotics in New Orleans. “As for me, I quit, I retire,” he writes. “I should like to explore another kind of life for a change. Moving to Denver is part of this feeling. Besides, it’s about time for me to grow up.” Reflecting on his newfound recognition he reports: “The publishers are whipping up a publicity campaign for me. I’m going to have pictures taken. [...] Tom Livornese and I went out and he picked out some clothes for me – several hundred bucks worth. I have one ensemble: wine sports jacket, and pearl slacks, with a wine tie and pearl shirt. Mad?” By the time White returned to Colorado from France, Kerouac had already moved to Denver, decided it wasn't right, and returned again to New York.

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