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Rating: 
Summary: A Flawed But Valuable Kerouac Biography
Review: Ellis Amburn's thesis is that Kerouac's personality and art were shaped by his struggle to reconcile his macho side with his latent homosexuality. His argument is not altogether convincing but thankfully it is basically a minor theme in what is otherwise an excellent biography. And Amburn's theme does raise valid unanswered questions about Kerouac's sexuality. Ginsberg's homosexuality is, of course, no secret, and both he and Kerouac acknowledge that there was some activity between them. And Neal Cassady's attempted hustle of the homosexual driver of the "fag Plymouth" in the motel scene in "On the Road" suggests that he was probably bisexual. But Kerouac himself is purposely vague on the details of his own homosexuality, so Amburn's interest is justified.
Anyone familiar with Kerouacs work, however, will likely have problems accepting Amburn's argument. Conflict over sexual ambivalence simply seems inadequate to explain Kerouac's obsession with life and death, joy and suffering, and man's relationship with God. Certainly Kerouac's loss of his brother Gerard at age 4 had a greater impact on his art than did reconciling whatever homoerotic feelings he had with his self-preferred image as a macho writer.
Many critics have apparently dismissed Amburn's book altogether. The fact that the chapters have been given ridiculously purple titles like "Muscles, Meat, and Metaphysics", and "Sucking Asses to Get Published" doesn't add much to the book's claim to respectibility. ButI found it a valuable and highly readable biography, which presents a picture of the author which I found more accessible and understandable than the Charters or Nicosia books. His research seems sound enough,and there are extensive notes and references, many from JK himself.
Amburn was Kerouac's last editor (he edited "Big Sur") and his comments on working with Kerouac are interesting in their own right, especially when he comes out and asks Kerouac just what he meant in certain ambiguous passages. He also presents numerous details that are omitted or glossed over in the other books, such as the details of the Kammerer murder and the exact nature of Bill Canastra's gruesome death during a subway prank. After reading his book I have a much better understanding of Kerouac's football career, the attraction he felt for Borroughs, and his comples relationship with his mother and with women in general. Details like this flesh out the picture, and do much to make Kerouac's personality more understandable.
I disagree with those who denigrate this book, and after two readings, it has become my favorite Kerouac biography. That Amburn's central thesis doesn't quite hold water (for me, at least) does nothing to lessen the value of this very enjoyable book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Dark Side of The Beat Generation
Review: For the first time a realistic biography has finally been written concentrating on and revealing in part THE DARK TRUTH ABOUT THE BEAT GENERATION. Ellis Amburn's biography is one of the first to ADMIT in any "official" capacity, and show through the biographical medium of Jack Kerouac, the simple undeniable fact that the Beat Generation is, like most rebellious movements comprised of the young, the unaccepted, the lost, misplaced, unacknowledged, leaderless, angry, artistic, philosophical, experimental, et.al---largely consumed by dark, forbidden ( by society) impulses and passions too powerful to deny and are often obsessed and fascinated by them too much NOT to explore.... It is Kerouac's dream that people want, not the truth of his life; even the numerous biographies have but scratched "the beat surface", somehow writing their way around the truth as if it were a reality whose skirts they were too terrified to lift, as a veil guarding from sore eyes what is not a handsome leg! Not so with Ellis Amburn's subterranean Kerouac! Amburn was Kerouac's editor the last decade of Kerouac's life.... He came into Kerouac's career, fittingly, about the time of "Big Sur", in which K, admits for the first time on record to his Angel that he is going absolutely crazy in the horrific manner of narcotica... K.'s literary skills of graphic description here do not tantalize, but horrify! This is the book that alienated Kerouac's own audience, and Amburn coming on the scene from here onwards is qualified to paint the portrait of Kerouac in a realistic manner worthy of Soviet Realist Literature, who is writing from personal memoir as well as from biographical investigation. Of course all Amburn writes is verified, one can investigate matters thoroughly for oneself thanks to concise bibliographical notated sources, including Kerouac's own "sex-lists", and the information it contains is valid only because, unlike the multitude of biographies out there, it's sources ARE cited.... Kerouac struggled all his life, and the fact that he eulogizes his youth in way that produced the most Romantic literature of his generation cannot ever completely exorcise his roots in the black soil of a poor French-Canadian family of working class origins, replete with all the stigmata of the hell it is to be poor, with an alcoholic, unemployed gambler for a father and repressed, clinging, religious old-world peasant for a mother, and a dutiful son of deep inborn sorrows, "Ti Jean", who loves them at the same time they all lovingly murder one another with smiles on their faces...you know the story, writ in high Romanticism, if you've read his works, which of no writer can I recommend more than Kerouac that you read his own works first before consulting ANY biograpical tomes as Kerouac wrote his own autobiography the way Twain said "noone is more prepared to write about your life than you are" and if you want to learn about Kerouac's spirit written straight from the heart consult his works! If you want the gut-level truth about his exterior life I recommend this one. Out of them all, however, if you don't want to be enlightened as to the truth of Kerouac's life,and believe me many do NOT, then do NOT read Amburn's biography. Even though much of what Amburn writes is mentioned in the previous what?-20?-biographies,it is yet glossed over in a deceptive manner allowing the delusion and the propoganda to continue flourishing and sellsellselling everything from romantic pants to cigarettes. On a deeper level, Amburn is championing Kerouac by writing the TRUTH of his exterior life as it can only raise Kerouac's spirit that much higher exposing as it does the true grit and stamina NOT to suicide himself the easy way, but to create immortal literature in which people will find the Solace and COMPANIONSHIP Kerouac wrote for! Amburn's Subterranean Kerouac is beyond the petty bickerings of what exactly went on at some party in the village 50 years ago, who ahhumped who so immensely they had to be resuscitated...that stuff is all fine-n-dandy but it does NOT get to the heart of the matter that is Kerouacs'! I suspected such a biography as this would upset the lies people want so much to believe, myself included, and they are anybody but Kerouac's lies; but true romanticism is not a flight from reason but a journey towards the ultimate self, and if such a book can upset so many innumerable critics, it's a sign beckoning: "There is something this book did to me that is really troubling to me!" and people rarely get upset by lies if they truly have no significant connotation, let those who admonish and want to kill the messenger bearing bad news go back to their idle worshipping of a false idol, and believe me, it is NOT Kerouac that is false in any way, it is largely the media who has so warped the true vision these writers had, but also those who would not find out the truth for themselves, even when they drink from the very source, that metaphysical horror of existence that Kerouac with sheer courage stands under the gaze of and stares back, constantly driving himself onwards "on the road" to get to the very heart of the matter, as if it were a very definitely real place somewhere within the confines of an "America!". Like any good biography, and there are thruths in each one not to be gleaned from any other, there is rarely any who don't break-down and cry their hearts out at the end of the life of Jack Kerouac. Many, rightly-so have said that to American Artists as well as the average reader, it is akin to the death of JFK for those who hold him close to their heart, a national tragedy. Disarming however is the real tragedy concerning Kerouac was the wretched manner in which he was treated while alive. The brutality of the establishment and the cruelty of mean spirited closed-minded people Kerouac fought against by using beautiful words, in the business of healing words...in the way he is used and marketed today still makes him very much so a 20th century American martyr. Amburn's biography is a portrait of Kerouac's inner-life in the tortured yet beautiful stylizations of German Expressionism. Kerouac fans are lucky, and some doomed, to have it. Regardless, the truth is now definately out there.
Rating:
Summary: Amburn Surprises and Delights
Review: I opened this book as a prejudiced reader, ready to dislike what I was sure would be Amburn's narrow-minded take on the writer, one more reduction of the artist through a filter of one more specialty school. Kerouac dissected by the scalpels of queer theory. I was delighted to find Amburn's immensely readable life of Ti Jean written with open mind and full heart. Satisfying in a way that few of the previous biographies have been, Amburn gives an authentic sense of a very complicated man across a busy and confused lifetime. No easy feat. The bonus is that Amburn also offers up tidbits from the archives unknown until now. (I was unaware that Kerouac once thought of merging Dr. Sax with On the Road and making the first novel the story of Sal Paradise's childhood). Clearly, the biographer cares about his subject even when he delineates Kerouac's failings in a clear-eyed, stinging fashion. There are fine insights into all the supporting cast of characters and its ever-shifting relationships (Burroughs, we learn, thought Cassady a low class con man. John Clellon Holmes suffered with his own alcoholic demons). The whole book is written in a pleasing, non-obtrusive style. Until Douglas Brinkley's official biography arrives, Amburn's book will do nicely to help sate the ever-expanding hunger for Kerouac studies.
Rating: 
Summary: So What...a waste of space
Review: Jack kerouac's sexuality...ummm...a subject for a book on his life. I read it through. There isn't anything new here if you read or listen to any of the Beat novels, poems and journals. It's interesting that in Kerouac's "Vanity Of Duluoz" the dedication page states "Extra special thanks to Ellis Amburn for his emphatic brilliance and expertise". It's pretty evident what drove Jack to write. It's all in his books. "Dr Sax" comes to mind. One good place to look for the real Jack Kerouac is not with this waste of time book but at a clip of him reading on the Steve Allen Show...look at his face when he finishes...closely. It said more about him than a thousand pages of bio's and bad press.
Rating:
Summary: zzzzzzzzz
Review: Only the gullible would believe this slanted garbage. The sex list is a major break in the understanding of Kerouac, too bad Amburn tries to make him a one dimensional person. The main premise in the book is that Kerouac was afraid that his homosexual leanings would become common knowledge. In many interviews mentioned by Amburn, Kerouac talks about his homosexual activity. He shouted in a NYC bar that he had sex with Gore Vidal. The sexlist kept by Kerouac includes homosexual encounters. The more information Amburn gives about Kerouac's "fear" of being found out, the more laughable the book's premise becomes. Amburn's weak claim of being a friend of Kerouac (over and over he mentions that Vanity of Dulouz is dedicated to him) is amusing when compared to his own words about Kerouac and previous editor Robert Giroux, "Failing to realize that the author-editor relationship is strictly business, Kerouac had naively assumed Giroux to be his friend for life..." Amburn knew a positive book wouldn't sell so he took the low road and dug up a bunch of stale dirt.
Rating: 
Summary: [this biography is utterably flawed...]
Review: This biography is articulately written. It provides valuable detail on
the end of Kerouac's life and depicts his/mother's schizoid repeated
moves from north to south and back.Kerouac's grissly death is sad to
read. However, this biography is utterably flawed with dubious
recollections from Ginsberg contradicting his previous statements on
the topic of Kerouac's sexuality; Gore Vidal, who William Burrourgh
referred to as an inveterate liar back in 1948; and other remembered
tales (some contradictory from those still living). There is content
here which is shameful and tasteless like Kerouac's...lists and the
despicable description of his firt sexual encounter with his last
wife. The writer also recounts sexual episodes directly from Kerouac's
writing and conjectures complex (and obvious) psychological reasons
for what he believes to be Kerouac's sexual duplicity-which in
fact(the duplicity)is contradicted by Kerouac's openness on the
matter. The overall thrust of the book is contrived and exaggerated....
Rating:
Summary: Offers respect
Review: This book is a tricky one.It's interesting to read a work that was so elegantly written and thoroughly researched but with the obvious agenda to "out" a man who is already well-known to have been "bisexual" in his activities. A credit to the author is that he does freely admit Kerouac's love (and in fact preference) for beautiful women, but do we as readers really need a diatribe about how wholesome homosexuality is? It's kind of a stretch to blame most of Kerouac's problems on his supposed conflict between hetero and homo leanings. Sexuality seems more a spectrum that is embraced by bisexuals, not a stark decision that must be made on either the "hetero" or "homo" side. Kerouac seemed to revel in his openness, not always torment over it! Obviously gays experienced much discrimination in the fifties and Kerouac probably felt a bit of this tension. Many readers do not need to hear so much about his sexual feelings/behaviors in general and grandiose psychological theories about the underpinnings of his conflicts and genius. The substantive portions on Kerouac's strivings as an artist and goal toward publishing are very well-written and quite informative. I really felt that I was taken into the mind of this ambitious genius beat writer. Amburn's discourses on his closeness to Kerouac did not upset me; they seemed like ingenuous efforts to convey his fondness for Kerouac. The football content was treated thoroughly and reverentially, which I enjoyed. Also, Subterranean sheds much light on the real itinerant nature of Kerouac, his undying love for his mother, and a variety of other tidbits seemingly culled from trusted sources. Mainly the book is intelligently written, engrossing, and the fact that it's pissing off a lot of people would have probably warmed Jack's heart. This book meets my number one criterion for a biography about a person who is no longer with us (if you can ever justify writing one) - that it is written mostly objectively, and with a lot of respect. This one successfully does just that. I'm raising a glass right now. B. Wallace/author/Labyrinth of Chaos
Rating:
Summary: SHEER MAGIC
Review: This is pure, addictive reading pleasure as it leaves no stone unturned in its investigation of Kerouac the author and Kerouac the man. Not only that, but it also sheds light on a whole generation of bohemians and contemporaries of Kerouac whilst providing valuable background and insight into the literary masterpieces produced by this generation that included William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Paul Bowles, Neal Cassady and many others. Their lives prove that the path of excess often leads to the most sublime literature. This book has stimulated my interest in the Beat writers all over again and I shall reread their classics once more, this time with a clearer understanding of the interpersonal relationships and mutual influences underlying the text. I believe Amburn's excellent book is indispensable for a thorough understanding of the Beats and is a brilliant reference work with its copious notes, extensive bibliography and thorough index. The text is enlivened by black and white photographs all the important people, places and documents that played a part in Kerouac's life. Impeccable scholarship and an engaging writing style combine to ensure a riveting read and a valuable reference source that I certainly will return to again and again.
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