Kerouac Manuscript to Be Restored
Saturday, June 02, 2001 8:24 PM EDT
news.lycos.com
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who
bought Jack Kerouac's original ``On the Road'' manuscript last
month for $2.43 million, said the frayed 50-year-old scroll will be
restored by preservationists at Indiana University.
Kerouac wrote the book during a marathon three-week period in
1951 on sheets of paper filled with single-spaced type and taped
together to form a 120-foot-long roll.
The edges of the cramped typescript are now eaten by time, paper
deterioration and damage blamed on a dog that once gnawed on it.
Published in 1957, the novel is one of the keystone literary works of
the beat generation, chronicling an aimless, Bohemian odyssey by
intellectual outlaws across the American landscape.
Irsay, 41, said he first read ``On the Road'' as a teen-ager and was
mesmerized by it. He said it's clear other artistic renegades derived
inspiration from the book.
``You get pulled in by this luscious moment of hearing a Beatles
song or being blown away by a Bob Dylan song and you want to
investigate who influenced those people,'' he said Friday.
Irsay said he will likely hold his first public unveiling of the
manuscript in a celebration in Bloomington later this summer. He
said some of his ``pals,'' including singer-songwriter John
Mellencamp and musician Kenny Aronoff, may attend.
Irsay, who bought the manuscript at Christie's New York auction
house, isn't sure where the scroll will find a permanent home. He
said he sees himself as the manuscript's temporary caretaker. |
