Beat author Jack Kerouac lived in Northport during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Because of continuing interest in his time in Northport and in two items owned by the library, a typescript of Kerouac's first book, The Town and the City, and an oral history interview with the writer, the library has developed an extensive Kerouac collection.
Kerouac: Off the Shelf: A Bibliography of Resources in the Northport-East Northport Public Library
Additional reference books available in the Northport Public Library building:
And the Hippos were Boiled in Their Tanks: Manuscript
Contains a portion of the manuscript of And the Hippos were Boiled in Their Tanks by Jack Kerouac and William Lee. And the Hippos were Boiled in Their Tanks was first published in 2008.
Jack Kerouac and the Beats
Collection of articles and excerpts from books about Jack Kerouac and beat poetry dated from 1960-1975.
John Clellon Holmes: Oral History of the Beat Generation, 1976
An interview taken by William Gargan of John Clellon Holmes for the Oral History Research Office at Columbia University in 1976. It discusses the Depression's influence on values and ethics; World War II: Medical Corps, GI Bill; Columbia University; the Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac; Eastern and Western philosophies.
Satori in Paris: Manuscript
This volume contains a manuscript of Satori in Paris. It is a semi-autobiographical tale of Kerouac's own trip to France, to trace his ancestors and explore his own understanding of the Buddhism that came to define his beliefs. The volume also includes correspondence from 1965 and 1966 of Sterling Lord and Barney Rosset of the Sterling Lord Agency, Judith Schmidt of Grove Press, Fred Jordan of Evergreen Review and Jack Kerouac. Satori in Paris was published in 1966 by Grove Press.
Vanity of Duluoz: Manuscript
This manuscript contains proofs and corrections of selections from Vanity of Duluoz. Vanity of Duluoz is a book about football and war. Growing up in America in the 1930s, these are the forces that shape Duluoz's life. Possessed of a talent for football, he leaves his hometown on a sporting scholarship to Columbia University, New York. The volume also includes correspondence from 1967 of Richard Barber of The Sterling Lord Agency, Fred Jordan and Helen Brown of Evergreen Review and Jack Kerouac. Vanity of Duluoz was published in 1966 by Grove Press.