From Library Journal
The celebrated Mister K wrote this slim and unimpressive volume in 1945 at the tender age of 23 happily, he got better. Inspired by Kerouac's own adventures at Columbia University with future Beats Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, etc., the plot follows a handful of students and would-be poets who conduct their lives according to literary ideals and throw boring parties where they sprout pedantic theories on art and music while getting pie-eyed on cheap wine. In contrast to Kerouac's usual fare, the writing is atypically stiff and the characters are pretentious and dull. This title initially was released electronically, and the book comes bundled with a CD-ROM containing the full text as well as a foreword, an introduction by Robert Creeley, a biography, a snippet from Kerouac's Lonesome Traveler, and separate bibliographies on Kerouac and the Beats, all of which is contained in the book as well. Unique to the disc, however, is a series of photos. A new work by a major author is always welcomed by fans, but Orpheus Emerged is a minor addition to the Keroauc canon. Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
An early Kerouac novella, posthumously published, features various university students with artistic and intellectual aspirations sorting out their love affairs, squabbles, and principles. Perhaps this immature roman à clef possesses interest more for what it reveals about the author's development than for its own virtues. At any rate, as interpreted by Grover Gardner, we hear none of that mannered grit that later informed On The Road. Realizing that Kerouac was, at the age of 23, still struggling to find a voice, Gardner plays what he is given--an unctuously sincere middle-class narrative personality, believing itself smart and adult and important. An added plus are his crisp intonations, expressiveness, and penetrating voice, ideal qualities for an audiobook performer. Y.R. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
