Jack Kerouac, The Subterraneans

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 1958

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

The Subterraneans tells the story of a brief, intense love-affair. Its narrator, Leo Percepied, a “Canuck” (i.e., from a poor French-Canadian background) becomes involved with Mardou Fox, half African-American and one quarter Cherokee. He sees her in a bar in San Francisco, where she hangs around with a bohemian group of writers, jazz-enthusiasts and intellectuals. Mardou has been emotionally damaged by some past relationships in this group and is wary of further entanglements. Leo, however, immediately as he sees her, determines to become involved. After a short courtship she goes to bed with him. For a while they enter into a highly-charged sexual relationship. However, quite rapidly, the affair starts to deteriorate, …

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605 words

Citation: Ellis, R. J.. "The Subterraneans". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 April 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7852, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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