Visions of Gerard

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Title Visions of Gerard
Visions of Gerard cover
Author Jack Kerouac
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher Farrar, Straus and Company
Released 1963
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 144 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-14-014452-8
Preceded by Big Sur
(1962)
Followed by Desolation Angels
(1965)

Visions of Gerard is a 1963 novel by American Beat writer Jack Kerouac. Unique among Kerouac's novels, Visions of Gerard focuses on the scenes and sensations of childhood as evidenced in the tragically short yet happy life of his older brother, Gerard. Kerouac paints a picture of the boy as a saint, who loves all creatures and teaches this doctrine to four-year-old Jack. Set in Kerouac's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, it is a beautiful but unsettling exploration of the meaning and precariousness of existence.

[edit] Explanation of the novel's title

The novel inspired, in the very least, the title of Bob Dylan's song Visions of Johanna on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.

[edit] References


Books by Jack Kerouac
The Town and the CityOn the RoadThe SubterraneansThe Dharma BumsDoctor SaxMaggie CassidyMexico City BluesBook of DreamsTristessaVisions of CodyLonesome TravelerBig SurVisions of GerardDesolation AngelsSatori in ParisVanity of DuluozPicScattered PoemsAtop an Underwood: Early Stories and Other WritingsOld Angel MidnightGood Blonde & OthersOrpheus EmergedBook of SketchesAnd the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (unpublished)