Vanity of Duluoz

Subtitled as an adventurous education, this novel is the narrator's backward look over his youth, from football in Lowell to studies at Columbia University and the turbulent years of the Second World War. Jack Duluoz recalls his friendships with the writers who became the Beat circle, a brush with the law, and his time in the merchant marine. Written late in Kerouac's life, it is more reflective and bitter than his early work, questioning fame and the choices that shaped him. It gives a clear, candid view of the years behind his better-known books.