The first book in Kerouacs Duluoz Legend a novella detailing the writers early life as refracted through the prism of the untimely loss of his brother Unique among Jack Kerouacs novels Visions of Gerard captures the scenes and sensations of earliest childhood the first four years in the life of Ti Jean Duluoz as they unfold in the short tragic-happy life of his brother Gerard. Set in Kerouacs hometown of Lowell Massachusetts childhoods intensity innocence suffering and delight unfold as Gerard interacts with animals has visions of Our Lady in heaven astonishes the priest in the church confessional and observes his family as they laugh and drink and weep--that is when he isnt sick and confined to bed. A novel that Kerouac called my best most serious sad and true book yet Visions of Gerard is a beautiful unsettling and melancholic exploration of the meaning and precariousness of existence.
