Visions of Gerard

A devastating semi-autobiographical novel and the first volume of Kerouac's memoir cycle

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 - 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 life.

'Called a "pain-tale" by Kerouac, it's the story of an almost divine, Buddha-like child racked with sickness and suffering' Guardian