Maggie Cassidy

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Maggie Cassidy
Maggie-cassidy-cover.jpg
First edition
Author Jack Kerouac
Language English
Publisher Avon
Publication date
1959
Publication place United States
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages208 pp
Preceded by Doctor Sax (1959) 
Followed by Tristessa (1960) 

Maggie Cassidy is a novel by the American writer Jack Kerouac, first published in 1959. It is a largely autobiographical work about Kerouac's early life in Lowell, Massachusetts, from 1938 to 1939, and chronicles his real-life relationship with his teenage sweetheart Mary Carney. It is unique for Kerouac for its high school setting and teenage characters. He wrote the novel in 1953 but it was not published until 1959, after the success of On the Road (1957).

Contents

The original manuscript published by Avon Books in 1959 was almost immediately pulled from the shelves due to objections over profanity in one particular passage. The passage was rewritten and the book redistributed even though Kerouac reportedly objected to the changes [ citation needed ]. The original manuscript remained unpublished until 2015 when Devault-Graves Digital Editions restored the full uncut original manuscript for its print edition [ citation needed ].

Plot

Part of what Kerouac considered the 'Duluoz Legend', [1] Maggie Cassidy tells the tale of Jack Duluoz and his romantic involvement with Irish-American Maggie Cassidy. Duluoz is a high school athletics and football star who meets Maggie Cassidy and begins a devoted, inconstant, tender adolescent love affair. [2]

Character key

Kerouac often based his fictional characters on friends and family. [3] [4]

"Because of the objections of my early publishers I was not allowed to use the same personae names in each work." [5]

Real-life personCharacter name
Jack KerouacJack Duluoz
Leo KerouacEmil "Pop" Duluoz
Caroline KerouacNin / Jeannette Bissonette
George "G.J." ApostolosG.J. Rigopoulos
Fred BertrandVinny Bergerac
Mary CarneyMaggie Cassidy
Margaret "Peggy" CoffeyPauline "Moe" Cole
Johnny KoumentzalisJohnny Kazarakis
Lou Little Lu Libble
Charles MorissetteJimmy Bissonette
Robert MorissetteJoe (Iddyboy) Bissonette
Omar NoelZaza Vauriselle
Jim O'DeaTimmy Clancy
Roland SalvasAlbert "Lousy" Lauzon
Charles SampasJames G. Santos
Jimmy WinchellEddy Gilbert
Seymour WyseLionel Smart

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References

  1. Barnett, David (24 July 2013). "Visions of Jack Kerouac... in an epic 13 volumes". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  2. Kerouac, Jack (1959). Maggie Cassidy. Penguin Modern Classics. p. Back cover. ISBN   978-0-141-19003-7.
  3. Sandison, David. Jack Kerouac: An Illustrated Biography. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. 1999
  4. "Beatdom - Who's Who: A Guide to Kerouac's Characters".
  5. Kerouac, Jack. Visions of Cody. London and New York: Penguin Books Ltd. 1993.
  6. von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang (1774). "June 16"  . The Works of J. W. von Goethe/Volume 6/The Sorrows of Young Werther/Book 1  . Vol. Book 1 via Wikisource.
  7. Moore, Dave. "Question: What writers and books most influenced Jack Kerouac? I am aware of Saroyan, Wolfe, Whitman, but that's about it". DHARMA beat. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  8. Kerouac, Jack. Big Sur (Foreword).