JackKerouacwasoneofAmerica’sgreatwritersofthelatterhalfofthe20thcentury,yetheenduredalifecharacterizedbypersistenthardshipanddisillusion.LeadingKerouacscholarPaulMaherJr.targetsthewriter’sembattledinsightofselfascentraltohislifeandwork.HerevealshowKerouac’stroubledinteractionswithalcohol,drugs,andspiritualitystampeditsimportanceonhisautobiographicalproseandpoetryandcreatedasingularlanguagethatunitedthoughtsonthehumanconditionandspiritualliberation.BecomingKerouac:AWriterInHisTimeaffixesKerouac’slifeandartinafreshway,givingreadersarichperspectivefromwhichtounderstandthis20th-centuryliterarygenius.Usingunpublishedarchivalmaterial,BecomingKerouacfocusesonthewriter’scriticalformativeyears--1940to1957--todemonstratehisgrowthasanovelistandpoet.MahercontendsthatKerouacdevelopedhissingularlanguagetocapturehumanconsciousnessasitneverhadbefore.HisfutilitiescatapultedAmericanliteraturetoreflectitsrestlesspost-WorldWarIIanxieties.NarratingtheeventsthatcomprisedKerouac’slife,biographershavelongstruggledtoillustratehiscomplexnessandthecontradictionsthatshapedhisdeterminationsanddoggedhisrelationships.Butwithoutconsiderationofthewriting,thetroublesinlifefailtorevealtheirdeeperresonancesbyskillfullyanalyzingtheworkwhiletracingtheevents.Maherachievesafullportrait,revealingstrugglesthatproblematizehiswork.BecomingKerouacfusesKerouac’slifeandarttocomprehendthismisunderstoodliterarygenius.
