Road Work

Alright, this one is a treat for our older readers and those that have some taste. Name someone who redefined a decade and created a literary movement unlike anything else before or since. Yep, Jack Kerouac is right at the top of the list when it comes to recent examples. He’s the progenitor of the Beat movement, challenged preconceived notions of spirituality and was a big fan of the bud. Yes, it comes as no shock that the man at least partially responsible for hippies smoked with both Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs (and if you don’t know who either of them are, please drop everything and Google the day away). But as is the case with most prolific artists, Kerouac died young at 47 with so much left unsaid about his autobiographical works, especially what had yet to be published. However, a new documentary, Whatever Happened to Kerouac?, is attempting to put the pieces together.  The documentary aims to put viewers into Kerouac’s mindset to explore who the man truly was before his passing. It comes complete with interview footage of not only the man himself, but of Ginsberg, Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Abbie Hoffman and more. A must-have for counterculture lovers exploring a movement’s literary roots.