In 1957 Jack Kerouac wrote a letter to Marlon Brando (which just sold for over $33,000 at Christies) asking him to buy the rights to On The Road and make a movie out of it, noting that they could both star in it. In his vision, the novel would be reworked to a "perfectly acceptable movie-type structure," compressing all of the separate voyages into one large journey across the country. He began the letter: more ›

Jack Kerouac's seminal Beatnik classic On The Road, which was famously typed out on a continuous 120-foot scroll, has gone mobile with the release of a new iPad app. more ›

What do Jack Kerouac and that girl from Twilight have in common? It'd be a lot cooler if somehow they had vampires in common, but alas, it's On The Road. The latter is currently filming the big screen adaptation of the epic novel (playing Marylou), and other cast members include Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Elizabeth Moss, and Steve Buscemi. New rule, Hollywood: if it was written on a scroll and is hailed as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century... just let it be. more ›

If Jack Kerouac were still alive, he'd be turning 88 today! The author and voice of the Beats made his way all over New York City during his lifetime (the Columbia Spectator just visited some of his old urban haunts)—but his life in Queens was never really well documented, even though he lived there for 12 years (leaving in 1955). more ›

Jack Kerouac. “Face of the Buddha.” Pencil on paper, 1956(?). NYPL, Berg Collection. Jack Kerouac. “Stella by Jack.” Pencil on paper, 1966(?). NYPL, Berg Collection. To help commemorate the 50th Anniversary of On the Road, the NYPL has put together a great exhibit titled Beatific Soul: Jack Kerouac on the Road. The exhibit explores the work and life of the Beat writer and showcases "the three extant typescript drafts of the novel, including the... more ›