Visions of Gerard

Gerard Duluoz was born in 1917 a sickly little kid with a rheumatic heart' Based on Jack Kerouac's memories of the beloved older brother who died when he was a boy, Visions of Gerard is unique among his novels for its dreamlike evocation of the sensations of childhood - its wisdom, anguish, intensity, innocence, joy and pain. Described by Kerouac as 'my most serious sad and true book', it forms the first volume of his memoir cycle the 'Duluoz Legend', and is a haunting exploration of the precariousness of existence. 'Called a " pain-tale" by Kerouac, it's the story of an almost divine, Buddha-like child wracked with sickness and suffering' Guardian