It’s funny because, as type A of a personality as I can have sometimes, I very much enjoy Jack Kerouac. While I liked On The Road, The Dharma Bums is probably my personal favorite of his. However, On The Road does hold some greater merit in the literary world, which is why I found this hand-drawn illustration so interesting. Apparently, On The Road was originally entitled The Town and The City, (Much less engaging, don’t you think?), and this drawing was done by Kerouac himself, to suggest the cover for the newly retitled book. I love finding things like this; they feel so personal and make the authors seem more real. Not they’re not real, of course, but sometimes they become authors more than actual people, so it’s nice to be reminded that they’re like us too, in a sense. (via onhershelf)
Actually, The Town and the City is Kerouac’s first novel and he is referring to the horrible cover design and photo the publisher chose when they released it. However, this drawing is really great and I’d add that it is always refreshing when a writer is involved with the totality of his work, and not just the words.
