# Tristessa

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/jack-kerouac/tristessa

![Tristessa](https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin-classics/jack-kerouac/tristessa_978-02-4175-206-7.jpg?v=2026-04-25%2009%3A34%3A17)

- Authors: [Jack Kerouac](https://www.bookquiver.com/jack-kerouac)
- Language: en_GB
- Published: 2019-07-04

## Description

She understands Karma, she says: " What I do, I reap "' Her name means sadness, yet Tristessa, a prostitute and morphine addict, lives without cares in her shabby room with a menagerie of pets and an altar to the Virgin Mary. Based on Jack Kerouac's own real-life love affair in Mexico city, this is the story of a man's ill-fated relationship with a woman he portrays with tenderness and dignity, even as her life spirals out of control. 'A narrative meditation studying a hen, a rooster, a dove, a cat, a chihuaha dog, family meat, and a ravishing, ravished junky lady, first in their crowded bedroom, then out to drunken streets, taco stands, and pads at dawn in Mexico City slums' Allen Ginsberg

## Editions

### Tristessa

- Publisher: penguin_classics
- ISBN: 978-02-4175-206-7
- Pages: 112
- Published: 2025-04-17
- Language: en_GB

### Tristessa

- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-02-4138-900-3
- Published: 2019-07-04
- Language: en_GB

### Tristessa

- Publisher: penguin_classics
- ISBN: 978-02-4138-899-0
- Pages: 80
- Published: 2019-07-04
- Language: en_GB

### Tristessa

- Publisher: penguin_books
- ISBN: 978-01-4016-811-2
- Pages: 96
- Published: 1992-06-01
- Language: en_US

## This book in other languages

- [Tristessa](https://www.bookquiver.com/jack-kerouac/cs/tristessa) (cs_CZ)
- [Tristessa](https://www.bookquiver.com/jack-kerouac/de/tristessa) (de_DE)
- [Tristessa](https://www.bookquiver.com/jack-kerouac/it/tristessa) (it_IT)
- [TRISTESSA](https://www.bookquiver.com/jack-kerouac/pt/tristessa) (pt_PT)