The Kerouac Scroll

The story of the Kerouac Scroll has fascinated fans since the early days of On the Road. Writers, artists, latter-day beats, and road trippers still tell the legend among themselves. They say Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road in just three weeks on one long roll of teletype paper. The follow-up questions are always "Is it true?" and "Is it even possible?"

In short, the answers are yes. But as with most literary legends, seeing is believing. I recently had the opportunity to see it on display at Columbia College in Chicago. What I learned at this exhibit is that not only does this legendary object exist, but also that there's a lot more to the story than what gets taught in literature class or whispered at youth hostels.

The Writing of the Kerouac Scroll

While it took Jack Kerouac exactly twenty days to complete the scroll, the actual writing of On the Road took much longer. Kerouac traveled extensively and wrote in his journals for years gathering raw material and drafting the beginnings of On the Road. And after typing the scroll, he edited the text from 1951 to 1957 while he shopped it around to publishers.

The manic pace of that famous three-week typing bender lead him to choose the scroll form over loose sheets of paper. While it was previously thought he used teletype paper, Jack Kerouac actually typed on tracing paper commonly used by architects. He taped sheets of this tracing paper together to form one large scroll to feed continuously through his typewriter. This way, Kerouac wouldn't have to break his concentration while he typed at about one hundred words per minute.

The Kerouac Scroll as an Art Object

The Kerouac Scroll is many things to many people. To historians, it is a document noted for describing the travels and shenanigans of a now-famous group of young men. Matching the real names contained in the scroll version to the fictionalized names in the published version of On the Road, it's pretty transparent who did what and when. Potchky, Lucien Carr's now-famous dog, ate the last four feet of the scroll and changed the ending of On the Road. The torn and chewed end serves as a reminder that the ending was as much a result of a fortuitous accident as it was Kerouac's careful editing.

To writers, the Kerouac Scroll is a fascinating draft of a classic book. Many changes occurred between the writing of the scroll and the On the Road we know today. With all of its editorial markings, the scroll offers writers a unique glimpse into Kerouac's process and disproves Kerouac's assertion that all writing is instinctual.

Although the Kerouac Scroll is undeniably beautiful, many artists also see its creation as a work of performance art. The theory of spontaneous writing Kerouac espoused led him to type continuously without stopping for paragraph breaks, punctuation, or revision. Such typing is as much a physical act of endurance as it is a mental challenge. In addition to being viewed as a performance, bookmakers consider the scroll to be an artists' book, marrying the form of the scroll to the circular nature of the narrative.

Where the Scroll is Now

Jim Ersay purchased the scroll in 2001 from Christie's for $24.3 million, and has generously allowed it to be shown in public since 2004 (so poor slobs like me can see it for free). The Keroauc Scroll will complete its tour at the end of 2009. Check OnTheRoad.org for details about the current location of the scroll.

Resources:

"Jack Kerouac's Famous Scroll, 'On the Road' Again" by Andrea Shea. National Public Radio, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11709924

OnTheRoad.org, http://www.ontheroad.org/

"On the Road: The Scroll" by James Birmingham. Beat Scene, No 56, Summer 2008.