The Haunted Life

May 26, 2014
This book includes an unfinished novel by iconic Beat writer Kerouac, published here for the first time, plus a detailed overview its development, and letters from Kerouac's father. Actor Schreiber narrates only the incomplete novel, but he does much with the little he is given, capturing the tone of the prose with ease and intrigue. His deep but soft delivery works well with the straight narration, and he musters up some unique voices for the characters. The remainder of the collection is narrated by Daniels, whose performance pales in comparison to Schreiber's. Daniels's deep and gravelly voice doesn't quite fit the material. He keeps pace and projection, but the writing does not give him much chance to shine. A Da Capo hardcover.

May 1, 2014

Lost until the manuscript surfaced at a Sotheby's auction in 2002, this unfinished work by Kerouac (1922-69) covers much the same ground as The Town and the City, his first published novel. Also set in Galloway (Kerouac's fictional name for his hometown, Lowell, MA), it, too, chronicles the life of the Martin family in the years leading up to World War II, a war that would take the lives of Sebastian Sampas and Billy Chandler, boyhood friends of Kerouac, who, thinly disguised, appear as characters here. Tietchen (English, Univ. of Lowell, The Cubalogues) fills out the volume with a collection of related sketches, letters, and journal entries. The material in the second section, including a 1948 outline for The Town and the City, bridges both works, providing valuable insight into Kerouac's artistic development. The final segment, focusing on Kerouac's father, portrays Leo more sympathetically than most of Kerouac's biographers do. VERDICT This collection brings together a series of documents that focus on a brief but significant period in Kerouac's youth. Serious students of the author's life and work will want to add this title to their book shelves alongside other "lost" works, including And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks and The Sea Is My Brother. [See "Galley Guide Discoveries," 1/19/14.]--William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY

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