''Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair In Letters, 1957-1958'' is a
collection of letters
A letter collection or letter book consists of a publication, usually a book, containing a compilation of letters written by a real person. Unlike an epistolary novel, a letter collection belongs to non-fiction literature. As a publication, a lett ...
that were written in 1957-1958 between
Joyce Johnson and
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian a ...
.
The letters depict the rather detached and absurd romance of the two writers, and they are supplemented greatly by Johnson's own narration and related letters between Joyce and her friends and relatives. Johnson is referred to in Kerouac's novel ''
Desolation Angels'' as Alyce Newman, and she has written several introductions for his works.
The relationship between the two took place during a very pivotal time period in Kerouac's life, when his fame was exploding after the release of ''
On the Road
''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonis ...
''.
''Door Wide Open'' spans events from the couple's first meeting until after the romance had faded into friendship.
Books about the Beat Generation
Jack Kerouac
Viking Press books
2002 non-fiction books
Collections of letters
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