Folk of Genius: The 5 most unusual habits of Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac is often seen as the father of the Beat Generation. He represents the romance of the open road and the passion of mad wanderings. He is an icon of wanderlust for those who wish to emulate a life of spontaneity and perpetual restlessness.

In reality Kerouac was a complicated man filled with contradictions. These five habits may shatter preconceived illusions about the mythical author.

Hippie hate

Readers of On the Road often see similarities between the novel and the Hippie movement. The characters roam the country and live in the moment. Yet Kerouac was a staunch conservative in both politics and religion.

He was an anti-communist with a disregard for hippies. He described them as flower children in the park with peanut butter sandwiches and a live-and-let-live philosophy. He believed they were unpatriotic and rude. This is a contrast to his reputation as a progenitor of the movement.

Kerouac was a fan of conservative author William F. Buckley and appeared on his show. He cheered for Joe McCarthy during the McCarthy trials and supported the Vietnam war. While he had an interest in Buddhism he self-identified as Catholic until his death. He claimed On the Road was a religious journey.

Athletic interests

Kerouac was an athlete and a sports fan. He received college football scholarship offers from Boston College, Notre Dame and Columbia University. He chose Columbia for its New York City location to hone his writing skills. He dropped out before graduating because of a cracked tibia.

His athletic interest extended to fantasy baseball. As a child he invented an intricate game where he tracked the stats and finances of made-up players. One player named Wino Love was the leading hitter with a .344 average. Kerouac explained that he was called Wino because he drinks but remains a great hitter. He continued to play this game until his death.

Mama’s boy

Kerouac remained tied to his mother throughout his life. After the death of his brother Gerard he developed an intense attachment to her. He often took his mother with him when he moved around the country. When she became an invalid he lived with her and cared for her.

Ex-girlfriend Joyce Johnson suggested his womanising was due to this maternal relationship. She believed flitting from woman to woman was his way of staying faithful to his mother. No one was going to supplant her as the fixed figure in his life.

“It isn’t writing, it’s typing”

Truman Capote famously used this phrase to describe Kerouac’s spontaneous prose. To maintain flow while writing On the Road Kerouac taped tracing paper into a 120-foot long roll. This allowed him to type continuously without changing sheets. He completed the draft in April 1951 after three weeks of typing.

Publishers rejected the scroll for years before it was accepted in the mid-50s. It was heavily edited with changed names and shortened prose. The original scroll is missing its end. A handwritten note explains it was eaten by a dog named Patchkee.