The Soft Machine

In the spring of 1943 during a stint in the Merchant Marine twentyoneyear old Jack Kerouac set out to write his first novel. Working diligently day and night to complete it by hand he titled it The Sea Is My Brother. Now nearly seventy years later its longawaited publication provides fascinating details and insight into the early life and development of an American literary icon. Written seven years before The Town and The City officially launched his writing career The Sea Is My Brother marks a pivotal point in which Kerouac began laying the foundations for his pioneering method and signature style. A clear precursor to such landmark works as On the Road The Dharma Bums and Visions of Cody it is an important formative work that bears all the hallmarks of classic Kerouac the search for spiritual meaning in a materialistic world spontaneous travel as the true road to freedom late nights in bars and apartments engaged in intense conversation the desperate urge to escape from society and the strange terrible beauty of loneliness.