About this title: Written over the course of three days and three nights, The Subterraneans was generated out of the same ecstatic flash of inspiration that produced another one of Kerouac's early classic, On The Road. Centering on the tempestous breakup of Leo Percepied and Mardou Fox--two denizens of the 1950s San Francsico underground--The Subterraneans is a tale of dark alleys and dark rooms, of artists, of visionaries,
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated
Date Published: 1958
ISBN-13:9780394174617ISBN:0394174615
Description: Good. Occasional black underlines. Photos: We now have a scanner in-shop and can provide you with a picture of this item if you do not currently see one. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Grove Press
Date Published: 1981
ISBN-13:9780394179520ISBN:0394179528
Description: Good+ Good Plus condition, no creases in spine, no slant, some edgewear, crease at bottom tip on front cover, light foxing top edge, bumped top tip, tight binding, NO age toning, 152 pages with an intro by Gerald Nicosia. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780802150400ISBN:0802150403
Description: Good. A little wear to the cover, one name atop page one. Photos: We now have a scanner in-shop and can provide you with a picture of this item if you do not currently see one. read more
Description: Very good. 2000 Grove Press Reprint Softcover(Trade PB) Edition. Slight wear to cover, text clean with strong binding. Ships Fast! read more
Edition: Reprint, 2001
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press, New York
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780802131867ISBN:0802131867
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 111 pp.; 21 cm. First published, 1958. Near fine. Tight, clean copy. Light edgewear to wraps. "Written over the course of three days and three nights, The Subterraneans was generated out of the same kind of ecstatic flash of inspiration that produced another one of Kerouac's early classics, On The Road. Centering around the tempestuous breakup of Leo Percepied and Mardou Fox--two denizens of the 1950s San Francisco underground--The Subterraneans is a tale of ... read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780802131867ISBN:0802131867
Description: Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Fine condition. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. Tight spine, bright pages. NO remainder marks or clippings. Written over the course of three days and three nights, The Subterraneans was generated out of the same kind of ecstatic flash of inspiration that produced another one of Kerouac's early classics, On the Road. Centering around the tempestuous brekup of Leo Percepied and Mardou Fox--two denizens of the 1950s San Francisco underground--The Subterraneans ... read more
Edition: First Thus
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Zebra Books/Grove Press, New York
Date Published: 1966
Description: VG+ 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. 1st Zebra Books edition: 1966. Color pictorial wraps. Z-1006S. [iv], 152 pp. Two small adjacent indentations to upper front cover, light edge wear. Light binding crease is original to issue. Slightly toned interior. Overall, a well preserved copy of a scarce vintage imprint of one of Kerouac's best known works. read more
"This book was more self-conscious and less well-written than what I remember of his other books. The prose was wandering and lacked important visual details. It was not written in chronological order; thus there was very little to grab hold of in terms of a plot."
"You have to be in the mood to read Kerouac. But when you are, it's like your having a lucid high. I mean your mind is clear but in another world. This was an important book for a dyslexic girl like me. You must pay attention to where he's meandering, but it's worth the trip. Don't mean to imply that this is a difficult book - just challenging for someone who mixes words up in their minds."
"Oh, Jack. As always, the enthusiasm and momentum in his writing is infectious. I haven't read anything by Kerouac for a few years before picking this one up, and I'd forgotten about the weirdness of trying to settle into it like it's a linear story intended to be clearly followed in detail when really it's a tilt-a-whirl kind of ride not about to stop and explain itself so all I can do is hang on, watch the colors spinning past, catch enough bits and pieces of the conversations and memories to be able to follow along. Once I remember that, and let go of what I think I know about grammar and punctuation, this evens out into a smooth read.
The scenes that lend themselves best to the carnival feel of Kerouac's writing are the late-night, not entirely sober party scenes. These are vibrant and cacophonous and we can see how easy it is to get swept up in the enthusiasm of this group of people and their wild migrations from home to a bar to a virtual stranger's house, everyone talking and yelling over each other and chasing some big idea to the next stop.
Plot in a nutshell: Boy (Leo) meets girl (Mardou), boy crushes on girl, boy and girl date/hook up/get a little soulmate-y, boy flakes on girl and gets jealous of her flirting with other boys, boy decides he's done with girl then decides he's not, girl breaks up with boy. It's sweeter than this, of course, and more frustrating, and somewhat more complex once all the secondary characters are added into the mix, but this is the jist of it. Leo pines for Mardou early on in the book, mentioning his great pain frequently and desire to die occasionally. It feels a little indulgent, all the moping, kind of a prod for us to start a Leo pity party that makes me glad when they do get together, because he steps away from the pathetic for a while when he's with her. I think I would label this one of the truest love stories I've ever read. It's not the fairy tale, happily ever after variety, but Leo and Mardou's relationship feels real. They get together in a lopsided, fumbly sort of way (she takes a while to warm up to him), make grand statements and promises in the rush of a new relationship, and then fail each other in small ways until the magic fades. There is no final reunion scene, or red-roses apologetic gesture, just the sadness of something ending that could maybe have been better than it was. In many ways, I like this better than I would a fluffy happy ending. By the end, I'm also more inclined to indulge Leo in his mopey sadness, because I've seen his ambivalence in action (want the girl, but jealousy and wanting other girls and a certain amount of self-sabotage get in the way), and it makes me a little sad, too."
"An honest to good story from Jack Kerouac, of love and loss from a beat perspective anxious on both accounts, The Subterraneans is Kerouac's passionate, fevered attempt to relay a soured relationship to the reader (I think he was supposed to have written it in a few days), which shows through the text both good and bad. The narrative is emotional with a wonderful, almost whimsical stream of consciousness, making it a joy to read; Mardou (the love interest) and Leo (Kerouac) have a number of great and heart-breaking interactions (all other characters are practically objects, which works perfectly with his mindful themes of cause and effect in near-existentialist proportion); unfortunately it also has quite a few text-related errors, grammatical and such, which were never corrected because it was around this time that Kerouac decided his work was above editing. While I would have hated to see an overzealous editor cut through the story, unforgiving of some more creative prose, the least he could have done was fix some obvious, glaring and careless mistakes."
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