Visions of Gerard: A Novel

In the process of reading all of Kerouac’s works, in chronological order. This is the first one, as a child in Lowel

I read it in one night and cried for two days (No, I am not a relative). This was my first Kerouac novel. (I don't count The Hippos one co-wrote with Burroughs, though it was my first) I think he wanted them read in chronological order, ideally, even though they were not published that way. This is how I am reading them. It makes sense to start from the beginning. This book pays homage to his brother. I fell in love with Gerard and I think anyone who reads this will as well. He reminds me a bit of myself when it comes to his love of animals. It's a rather short novel. Like I said, I read it in one night. Great book. I get misty eyed thinking about it to this day.

Surely the most tender of Kerouac's many books, this reads more like an extended meditation than a novel as such, and draws the reader into its elegaic world of bittersweet memories & lost joys. Written at the height of Kerouac's immersion in Buddhism, it fuses both his Buddhist studies & his own Catholic upbringing to create a personal faith of both suffering & a sort of resigned wonder, contemplating the ephemeral, cloud-like events of Time from the perspective of a pained & puzzled Eternity. While a lovely memorial to his brother, it's just as much a revealing portrait of his own sensitive soul, battered by the needless cruelties of life, yet still astonished by its beauties. An essential book, not just for the Beat canon, but for all who ponder the contradictory nature of life on Earth. Most highly recommended!

This is definitely one of my top five favorite Kerouac novels. I read it about twenty years ago and found it to be good but a bit painful to read. I recently read it again and found it to be some of Kerouac's most poignant and beautiful writing. If you read On the Road or Dharma Bums and want something similar, this is not it. I put this, Dr. Sax, Big Sur, and Tristessa as four of his most important yet overlooked novels.

VISIONS OF GERARD, in my opinion (no one else's), is Jack Krouac's best. It is written with such love and loss that one would think he never spent all of that time chasing tail and getting stoned. I have repeatedly "LENT" this book out and it never came back. If I want someone to read it, I just buy another copy. If you like the "Beats", then this is Jack's pinnacle. It's not what they wrote, it's how its written.

A beautiful evocation of a trauma which haunted Kerouac for the rest of his life, containing some of his finest writing...

Good book and vibe from the mind of Ti JeanHis writing lets the mind explore. Great book of a child's mind through Gerard's short saint like life

Portable. Nice size print.

The book came in good time but i would not describe the condition as excellent. There are some deep marks on the front and the cover is slightly curled at the corner. I am still glad to find this rare book regardless.