Carolyn Cassady Off the Road

"Rich with gossip, historically significant photographs, intimate memories, unpublished letters." ( The New York Times) This memoir by the woman at the center of the Beat movement is "a great book as well as a wonderful autobiography." ( The Washington Post Book World ) Written by the woman who loved them all--as wife of Cassady, lover of Kerouac, and friend of Ginsberg--this riveting and intimate memoir spans one of the most vital eras in twentieth-century literature and culture, including the explosive successes of Kerouac's On the Road and Ginsberg's Howl , the flowering of the Beat movement, and the social revolution of the 1960s. Artist, writer, and designer Carolyn Cassady reveals a side of Neal Cassady rarely seen--that of husband and father, a man who craved respectability, yet could not resist the thrills of a wilder, and ultimately more destructive, lifestyle. "To the familiar history of the Beat generation, Carolyn Cassady adds a proprietary chapter marked with newness, self-exposure, love and poignancy." ( Publishers Weekly) "A poignant recollection--truthful, coarse, and inviting--teeming with the spirit of the men who inspired and symbolized the dreams of a generation." ( San Francisco Chronicle)