{"product_id":"minor-characters-life-with-kerouac-and-the-beat-generation-by-joyce-johnson","title":"'Minor Characters: Life with Kerouac and the Beat Generation' by Joyce Johnson","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [\u0026amp;:has([data-writing-block])\u0026gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-8 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv dir=\"auto\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"LR5Y_W_content markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003ch4 dir=\"auto\"\u003eJoyce Johnson’s memoir of New York in the late 1950s begins at the edge of the Beat Generation.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eJohnson was twenty-one when she met Jack Kerouac, shortly before the publication of \u003cem\u003eOn the Road\u003c\/em\u003e, and their relationship placed her inside the circle of Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky and Gregory Corso at the precise moment the Beats were becoming public mythology. But Johnson writes what the mythology obscured. All the lines of fire, the girlfriends, lovers, typists, artists and writers whose own ambitions were frequently subordinated to the supposedly more important work of the men around them. \u003cspan class=\"contents\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eJohnson writes about Kerouac without flattening him into either genius or monster, and about herself without pretending hindsight made her less implicated in the world she describes. It's a really great book about being young near history while recognising that proximity to somebody else’s legend is not the same thing as having a life of your own. Generous in its reflection. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award and has since become one of the essential accounts of the Beat milieu from a woman who was actually there. \u003cspan class=\"contents\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVirago, London, 1995. Paperback. Light shelf wear and rubbing to covers, with mild edge wear. Pages lightly age-toned; internally clean and binding firm. Very good condition.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46363434156115,"sku":null,"price":14.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/womenintranslation-2026-09-18T172847.842.png?v=1789716684","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/minor-characters-life-with-kerouac-and-the-beat-generation-by-joyce-johnson","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}