《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评

This in-depth examination into what made Kerouac run is a loving, insightful visual probe that enables the viewer to understand better a man who became an icon for a major American social movement. Kerouac's novel, On The Road, resulted in his being crowned "King of the Beats," but this small-town boy from Lowell, MA, was never comfortable with his fame, maybe even pained by it as it washed over him like a tidal wave. We're shown the major influences that molded Kerouac's psyche: his hometown, his mother, Catholicism, Zen Buddhism, jazz, and hipster individuals such as Neal Cassady, John Clellon-Holmes, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs. This docudrama combines interviews with Kerouac's friends, rare old-time photos and footage, and reenactments while a voice-over narrator reads segments from his various novels. The sound quality and photography are excellent. The famous Steve Allen Show segment where Kerouac reads prose while Allen plays jazz piano has been used before in What Happened to Kerouac? (Video Reviews, LJ 1/99) but is still worth the price of the video. Kerouac's sad end at age 47 was best described by his friend Clellon-Holmes: "He had enough of the world." Highly recommended for all libraries.-Gardner Haskell, San Francisco P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.