"Vanity of Duluoz" by Jack Kerouac (New in the plastic)

Vanity of Duluoz by Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac’s final novel published in his lifetime is a candid, restless look back at his own making. Narrator Jack Duluoz, Kerouac’s alter ego, recounts “an adventurous education” from 1935 to 1946. The story begins on the football fields of Lowell, Massachusetts, and carries him through prep school, a Columbia scholarship, and a rocky exit from both the team and the university.

Along the way come wartime service, the merchant marine, and the Beat circle taking shape in New York, including a violent episode that left him tangled in a criminal case. Kerouac tells it all in his rolling, spontaneous voice, equal parts nostalgia, bitterness, and humor.

The title nods to Ecclesiastes, and the book is both a confession and a defense. It’s essential for readers who know On the Road and want to see where the legend started.