In 1964, Paul Carpetti was a senior in high school and knew what to expect from life. He’d enjoy his high school senior year as a football star and popular kid. He’d go to work in the steel mill. He’d marry his high school sweetheart and start a family. Then, on a class trip to New York City, he discovered Jack Kerouac’s seminal book, On The Road. The book leads him to question this future. Later in the year, his mother’s death shakes him to the core. Nothing will be the same again.
After graduation, he meets fellow Kerouac devotee Duke Walczak while working at the steel mill. After learning that Kerouac is living in St. Petersburg, Florida, Paul and Duke leave on a hitchhiking road trip to find their idol and learn the answers to life’s questions. Along the way they have amazing adventures, including meeting one of the Weeki Wachee mermaids. Finally they meet Kerouac and all is not as they expected.
Shoup’s novel is enthralling. With few words, Shoup paints marvelous characters and settings. I felt I’d known Paul, his father, his brother and his girl friend for years. I empathized with Paul’s yearnings and struggles with the fate life seemed to hold for him. I rode along with him on the trip and shared his experiences. I learned along with him. I was also shocked at Kerouac’s current circumstances. I struggled along with him to understand the difference between the ideal Kerouac and the real Kerouac. I cheered his decisions on how to proceed to the next phase of his life. Reading this novel was very satisfying. Looking for Jack Kerouac by Barbara Shoup is a great addition to the American tradition of the self realization novel.
The novel also paints the time period mid- to late- sixties. Young people today have seen the public television specials and sometimes seem to think the entire country was Haight Ashbury. The issues of the times impacted all Americans. But they weren’t all hippies. The trip from northern Indiana to Florida also allows the author to realistically describe the attitudes of Americans in various areas of the country.
Looking for Jack Kerouac is marketed as a young adult novel. It is, however, good for adults also. If you enjoyed Shoup’s An American Tune, you’ll be sure to enjoy this book also.
Barbara Shoup will be a visiting author bookseller at Bookmamas, 9 S. Johnson Avenue, on Small Business Saturday, November 20 from noon–four p.m. She would gladly autograph any books sold that day.
