Overview

John Clellon Holmes met Jack Kerouac on a hot New York City weekend in 1948, and until the end of Kerouac’s life they were - in Holmes’s words – ‘Brother Souls’. Brother-Souls is the remarkable chronicle of this cornerstone friendship and the life of John Clellon Holmes.

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9781496853745

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Reviews

"As an acutely perceptive observer of the Beat literary scene during the Cold War years and as a writer with a profound and empathetic appreciation of the achievements and struggles of his fellow novelist Jack Kerouac, John Clellon Holmes was unparalleled. It is wonderful that Ann and Samuel Charters have brought this underappreciated writer out of the wings and moved him to the center of the stage in their fascinating and informative portrayal of an important, twenty-year literary friendship that survived the tensions of competition and emulation. It is particularly exciting to be able to read the brilliant and at times wrenching extracts from the unpublished journals that contain some of Holmes's best and boldest writing.--Joyce Johnson, author of Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters, 1957-1958 As this field develops and Holmes gets the recognition he deserves, this first-rate biography by Ann and Samuel Charters will be seen as the groundbreaking volume. . . . Superb research; clear, evocative writing; and professional packaging combine to distinguish John Clellon Holmes as a respected and important writer. Brother-Souls is a major work.--Matt Theado ""Journal of Beat Studies"" In the entire canon of Beat books, [Brother-Souls] is arguably the single most comprehensive view of the scene as it unfolded--and absolutely the most authoritative work on Holmes and Kerouac. It is the only book which comes to mind where the footnote pages themselves are a treat to read.--Michael Hendrick ""Beatdom"" John Clellon Holmes has remained in Jack Kerouac's shadow long enough. This marvelously written volume finally pushes Holmes into the sunlight alongside Kerouac--which is right where he belongs. By comparing and contrasting the two writers, Ann and Samuel Charters have placed Holmes in his legitimate spot alongside the others in the pantheon of mid-century American writers. Readers will find it surprising that the writer whose opinion Kerouac counted on most belonged not to Allen Ginsberg or William S. Burroughs, but to John Clellon Holmes. He shines in his own light for the first time in Brother-Souls.--Bill Morgan, coeditor of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters and author of The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation The John Clellon Holmes-Jack Kerouac friendship, as this book's title indicates, was special and important. Kerouac coined the term 'Beat Generation' during a conversation with Holmes, and Holmes as an early reader of the On the Road scroll. Samuel and Ann Charters, in a book that is part biography and part literary history, examine a relationship that was sometimes fragile, sometimes strong, and they tell the story in a way that sheds new light on the life and times of the Beat Generation writers. A wonderful and valuable addition to the Beat canon.--Michael Schumacher, author of Dharma Lion: A Critical Biography of Allen Ginsberg and Will Eisner: A Dreamer's Life in Comics"

"As this field develops and Holmes gets the recognition he deserves, this first-rate biography by Ann and Samuel Charters will be seen as the groundbreaking volume. . . . Superb research; clear, evocative writing; and professional packaging combine to distinguish John Clellon Holmes as a respected and important writer. Brother-Souls is a major work."" - Matt Theado Journal of Beat Studies ""In the entire canon of Beat books, [Brother-Souls] is arguably the single most comprehensive view of the scene as it unfolded—and absolutely the most authoritative work on Holmes and Kerouac. It is the only book which comes to mind where the footnote pages themselves are a treat to read."" - Michael Hendrick Beatdom ""As an acutely perceptive observer of the Beat literary scene during the Cold War years and as a writer with a profound and empathetic appreciation of the achievements and struggles of his fellow novelist Jack Kerouac, John Clellon Holmes was unparalleled. It is wonderful that Ann and Samuel Charters have brought this underappreciated writer out of the wings and moved him to the center of the stage in their fascinating and informative portrayal of an important, twenty-year literary friendship that survived the tensions of competition and emulation. It is particularly exciting to be able to read the brilliant and at times wrenching extracts from the unpublished journals that contain some of Holmes’s best and boldest writing."" - Joyce Johnson, author of Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters, 1957–1958 ""John Clellon Holmes has remained in Jack Kerouac’s shadow long enough. This marvelously written volume finally pushes Holmes into the sunlight alongside Kerouac—which is right where he belongs. By comparing and contrasting the two writers, Ann and Samuel Charters have placed Holmes in his legitimate spot alongside the others in the pantheon of mid-century American writers. Readers will find it surprising that the writer whose opinion Kerouac counted on most belonged not to Allen Ginsberg or William S. Burroughs, but to John Clellon Holmes. He shines in his own light for the first time in Brother-Souls."" - Bill Morgan, coeditor of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters and author of The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation ""The John Clellon Holmes–Jack Kerouac friendship, as this book’s title indicates, was special and important. Kerouac coined the term ‘Beat Generation’ during a conversation with Holmes, and Holmes as an early reader of the On the Road scroll. Samuel and Ann Charters, in a book that is part biography and part literary history, examine a relationship that was sometimes fragile, sometimes strong, and they tell the story in a way that sheds new light on the life and times of the Beat Generation writers. A wonderful and valuable addition to the Beat canon."" - Michael Schumacher, author of Dharma Lion: A Critical Biography of Allen Ginsberg and Will Eisner: A Dreamer’s Life in Comics"

Author Information

Ann Charters is professor emeritus of English at the University of Connecticut, where she taught for more than thirty years. She is author or editor of numerous books on writers of the Beat Generation, including Beat Down to Your Soul: What Was the Beat Generation?, The Portable Beat Reader, and Kerouac: A Biography. Samuel Charters (1929–2015) was an eminent historian of jazz and blues music and author of the award-winning The Roots of the Blues and numerous other titles. He was also a Grammy-winning record producer, musician, poet, and fiction writer and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1994.

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