Door Wide Open

<b>A wonderful (<i>The New York Times Book Review</i>) and unique collection of love letters between Joyce Johnson and Jack Kerouac</b><br><b> </b><br><b>A touching commentary not only on the Beat Generation but on what it's like to be a young woman who loves a gifted troubled guy with other things--besides love--on his mind.--<i>Elle</i></b> <p/>On a blind date in Greenwich Village set up by Allen Ginsberg Joyce Johnson (then Joyce Glassman) met Jack Kerouac in January 1957 nine months before he became famous overnight with the publication of <i>On the Road</i>. She was an adventurous independent-minded twenty-one-year-old; Kerouac was already running on empty at thirty-five. <p/><i>Door Wide Open </i>containing the many letters the two of them wrote to each other reveals a surprisingly tender side of Kerouac. It also shares a vivid and unusual perspective on what it meant to be young Beat and a woman in the Cold War fifties. Reflecting on those tumultuous years Johnson seamlessly interweaves letters and commentary bringing to life her love affair with one of American literature's most fascinating and enigmatic figures.