Michael Norris takes a detour from his Random Walk to visit Literary Kicks, by way of Columbia College in Chicago, where the Jack Kerouac scroll manuscript of On the Road is currently on display.
Mike says, “While he was able to create the Scroll in three weeks, the task of turning it into a publishable novel took quite a bit longer. Kerouac brought the Scroll to Robert Giroux, who had edited The Town and the City. When Giroux suggested that the 120 foot long manuscript needed some editing, Kerouac is said to have replied “There shall be no editing of this manuscript; this manuscript was dictated by the Holy Ghost.” Eventually, Viking Press agreed to publish the book, and after many revisions supervised by Viking’s editor Malcolm Cowley, the book finally was released in 1957, six years after the initial draft.”
Leave a Reply