Biography of Jack Kerouac

Jean-Louis "Jack" Kerouac (pronounced /'k?ru?æk, 'k?r?wæk/; March 12, 1922  October 21, 1969) was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast, and alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation.[2] Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing covering topics such as jazz, promiscuity, Buddhism, drugs, poverty, and travel. His writings have inspired other writers, including Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Robbins, Thomas Pynchon, Lester Bangs, Will Clarke, Richard Brautigan, Ken Kesey, Haruki Murakami, and Bob Dylan.[citation needed] Unsympathetic critics of his work have labeled it "slapdash", "grossly sentimental",[3] and "immoral"[4]. Kerouac became an underground celebrity and, with other beats, a progenitor of the Hippie movement.[5] At age 47 in 1969 Kerouac died from internal bleeding due to long-standing abuse of alcohol. Since his death Kerouac's literary prestige has grown and several previously unseen works have been published. All of his books are in print today, among them: On the Road, The Dharma Bums, Mexico City Blues, The Subterraneans, Desolation Angels, Visions of Cody and Big Sur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac