Running Through Heaven: Visions of Jack Kerouac by Jacob Loewentheil is a book to be published in conjunction with an exhibition of items related to Kerouac, currently on display at the Grolier Club in New York (which opened last week and will remain up until May 16th).
It’s a remarkable trove, handsomely produced, and includes a number of informative essays, as well as photos and scans, alongside detailed descriptions of some of the items from Loewentheil’s extensive and, frankly, singularly impressive Kerouac collection.
The title comes from an annotation Kerouac made when reading Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Possessed – “As if they were all running through heaven.” (this item, Kerouac’s copy, annotated in his hand, is, needless to say, one of the items in the collection) – Similarly interesting annotated books include his copy of Alan Watts’ The Way of Zen, revealing Jack’s early Buddhist interests (Loewentheil writes on this in one of the five essays he contributes to the book – “Sacred Drift – Kerouac’s Religious Evolution”)
The other four – “Becoming Kerouac – A Literary Education in Letters”, “Romantic Jack -Myth, Love and the Spirit of the Road”, “The Last Road – Jack Kerouac’s “Conservative Turn”, and “Still Moving – Why Kerouac Matters” – follow an Introduction (“Towards An Understanding of Jack Kerouac”) and a Foreword by Ann Charters
Loewentheil has also commissioned other contributors, David Amram (on the musical connection), Kerouac-biographer-to-be Holly George-Warren (on a remarkable body of correspondence with Kerouac’s Lowell high-school chum, George Apostolos), and Tim Hunt (on another crucial and revealing correspondence with his long-time friend, Ed White)
Letters are an important component here, letters to Neal Cassady, letters to Gary Snyder, several interesting letters to Allen.
It being a bibliographic show, there’s also description and notation on a number of “bibliographic treasures” – three important associated or inscribed copies of the first edition of On the Road (including Kerouac’s own first edition copy), an inscribed copy of The Town and The City from 1952 (and another inscribed by both Jack and Allen), a 1960 edition of Visions of Cody with a hand-drawn cover by the author,
not to mention manuscripts/typescripts, unpublished drafts..
One such typescript is an early version of Visions of Gerard (and Jack’s cherished photo of his beloved older brother appears in the show and in the book)
There are also (duly presented and duly noted) fetishist and/or associational artifacts – Kerouac’s “personal and well worn” crucifix and rosary beads, Kerouac’s “personal copies” of three “girlie magazines” (with his writing), Neal Cassady’s chess set… something for everyone!
A brief lay-out of the book: – Foreword- Collector’s Statement – Introduction – Essays – Item Descriptions (Apostolos Letters 1940-1967, Ed White Letters 1948-1968 – The Music Between Them (David Amram and Jack Kerouac) – Other Letters – First Editions and Published Works – Miscellaneous Published Works -Jack Kerouac Typescript Manuscripts – Jack Kerouac’s Personal Volumes – Jack Kerouac Personal Possessions – Addendum – Index
For the full table of contents – see here