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London : Black Spring, 2007.
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LibraryThing member stephmo
The tone of Carolyn Cassady's memoir of her time with Jack Cassady has a bit of an undercurrent that is seems hard to believe until she reveals the truth about her feelings when her children find a night with their estranged father and Ken Keasey's band of Merry Prankster's to be a letdown: Both of
In reading Off the Road, one realizes that without being a character in Kerouac's novels, her time with him would have amounted to being nothing but being the wife of a serial cheater, general compulsive (drugs, gambling, any other hobby of the moment), absentee father and classic man-child. But he was who he was and this memoir was realized in 1990 - during one of many revivals of all things Beat. One cannot blame the woman for wanting to recount this time with these men she knew before they all became famous, but it is clear that she wants them to be seen as mere men. After all, she sacrificed the better portion of her younger life to living the attitude many individuals are content to read about or play at for a weekend or two.
Carolyn's version of events is well-packed with letters from Ginsberg and Kerouac (the latter who she had her own affair with, the former who she became friends with after he wanted to make up for having his own affairs with Neil). It's also a reminder of the limitations for women in the late forties and early fifties if hey found themselves in the precarious position of being main bread winner for a family. Portions of the memoir do drag when discussing the benefits of Edgar Cayce's Spirituality, but it becomes understandable as both Ginsberg and Kerouac begin their own spiritual journeys. She is very protective of the lives of her children, mentioning them only when absolutely necessary in the story. I do respect this protection, but as the story drags on through Neal's various exploits and her seemingly limitless ability to forgive for the sake of the family, I did find myself wondering why (since this was published in 1990 - nearly 30 years after Neal's death), there was no mention of any impact this rocky relationship had on them later in life.
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them admitted to a certain amount of disillusionment, now that they had seen their idols as ordinary people. My sacrifice had not been in vain.In reading Off the Road, one realizes that without being a character in Kerouac's novels, her time with him would have amounted to being nothing but being the wife of a serial cheater, general compulsive (drugs, gambling, any other hobby of the moment), absentee father and classic man-child. But he was who he was and this memoir was realized in 1990 - during one of many revivals of all things Beat. One cannot blame the woman for wanting to recount this time with these men she knew before they all became famous, but it is clear that she wants them to be seen as mere men. After all, she sacrificed the better portion of her younger life to living the attitude many individuals are content to read about or play at for a weekend or two.
Carolyn's version of events is well-packed with letters from Ginsberg and Kerouac (the latter who she had her own affair with, the former who she became friends with after he wanted to make up for having his own affairs with Neil). It's also a reminder of the limitations for women in the late forties and early fifties if hey found themselves in the precarious position of being main bread winner for a family. Portions of the memoir do drag when discussing the benefits of Edgar Cayce's Spirituality, but it becomes understandable as both Ginsberg and Kerouac begin their own spiritual journeys. She is very protective of the lives of her children, mentioning them only when absolutely necessary in the story. I do respect this protection, but as the story drags on through Neal's various exploits and her seemingly limitless ability to forgive for the sake of the family, I did find myself wondering why (since this was published in 1990 - nearly 30 years after Neal's death), there was no mention of any impact this rocky relationship had on them later in life.
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Original language
English
Physical description
448 p.; 20 inches
ISBN
9780948238376