Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Neal Cassady letter

Today's Chronicle has a front-page article on the famous "Joan Anderson Letter" written by Neal Cassady in San  Francisco to Jack Kerouac in New York.  The letter is said to have inspired Kerouac's approach to "On the Road."  The letter is to be auctioned off on December 17th with the bidding to start at around $300,000.  (Hold on while I check my checking account balance.)  The article is very interesting and you can read the whole thing right here.  Click bottom right corner of page 1 to move to page 2.  An interesting irony is that the "Joan Anderson Letter" was named for a woman Cassady describes in amorous detail, but who she is or was remains a mystery.  Note the link on page two to an interesting video from the Beat Museum regarding the letter.  The link is functional.


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