Jack Kerouac, Doctor Sax

R. J. Ellis (University of Birmingham)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1959

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Doctor Sax portrays a boy’s childhood in late nineteen-twenties and thirties Lowell. The boy, Jacky Duluoz, roams Lowell’s streets, encountering imaginary adversaries: Doctor Sax, a criminal alchemist, the vampiric Count Condu and other figures drawn from myth, cartoon and fantasy. These encounters lead Jacky into a series of nightmare adventures. Initially, he regards Sax with a mixture of dread and fascination, but, progressively, he comes to identify him as an ally, assisting him in the tracking-down of a far more potent and dangerous phantom-enemy, a giant snake. The narrative climaxes in a confrontation with this evil snake, in front of which they are powerless. But an ambiguous victory is delivered by a large bird, …

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1153 words

Citation: Ellis, R. J.. "Doctor Sax". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 April 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5543, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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