82. Scratching Beyond Kerouac’s Surface w/ Saloni Srivastava & David O’Connor

In the final special episode celebrating American author Jack Kerouac’s centennial birthday, Dan invites Advanced PhD scholar of American Literature Saloni Srivastava & Poet David O’Connor to talk about the all-consuming meditative power of driving on the road, living at The Kerouac house in Orlando, FL, the spiritual depth of Kerouac’s writing, seeking one’s lineage, and a whole lot more. This is an episode that virtually traversed many timezones to happen.

Listen to the first Kerouac episode: 80. Celebrating Jack Kerouac’s 100th Birthday w/ Tim Hernandez & Nate Jordan

Listen to the second Kerouac episode: 81. Honoring Kerouac’s Impact on American Poetry w/ S.A. Griffin & Richard Modiano

People and Texts Mentioned in this Episode

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• Jack Kerouac
• The Kerouac Project
• James Joyce
• John Steinbeck
• Simone de Beauvoir
• Graham Greene
• On the Road by Jack Kerouac
• Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac
• Satori in Paris by Jack Kerouac
• Allen Ginsberg
• Neal Cassady
• The Joan Anderson Letter
• Stanford M. Forrester
• The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
• Miles Davis
• The Kronos Quartet
• Joanne Kyger
• Gary Snyder
• Vanity of Dulouz by Jack Kerouac
• The Sea is My Brother by Jack Kerouac
• Gregory Corso
• William S. Burroughs
• Lawrence Ferlinghetti
• Samuel Beckett
• The First Third by Neal Cassady
• Kerouac in Florida by Bob Kealing
• Dr. Sax by Jack Kerouac
• Robert Creeley
• Dr. Sax recording w/ Creeley
• Martin Heidegger
• Ludwig Wittgenstein
• Naropa University
• Jan Kerouac
• Baby Driver by Jan Kerouac
• Visions of Cody by Jack Kerouac
• Vietnam War
• Robert Macfarlane
• Joan Didion
• My Discovery of America by Vladimir Mayakovsky
• Specimen Days by Walt Whitman
• Some of the Dharma by Jack Kerouac
• On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac
• The Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac
• Marcel Proust
• Thomas Wolfe
• My Struggle Series by Karl Ove Knausgård
• The Haunted Life by Jack Kerouac
• The Town and the City by Jack Kerouac
• Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
• Visions of Cody by Jack Kerouac
• Matt Dillon Reading On the Road
• David Amram
• Anne Waldman
• Roberto Bolaño
• The Beat Bookshop
• Shakespeare and Company
• Bahrisons Booksellers
• Dr. Vinayak Das Gupta
• Dr. Subarno Chatterji

“Kerouac was sort of the first time I understood, ‘Oh wow you can stream your consciousness and just write what you feel what you see.’”
–David O’Connor

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“[Kerouac] wants to consume the road and the culture that comes along with it through Neal Cassady.”
–Saloni Srivastava

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“Kerouac sees the flavor of America, but what he devises out of it is this very meditative spiritual, kind of an awakened idea.”
–Saloni Srivastava

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“It’s the development of an artist [Jack Kerouac] that happens in the writing.”
–Saloni Srivastava

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“I think the whole point of Satori in Paris was [for Kerouac] to go and seek his lineage.”
–Saloni Srivastava

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“There was a large phase where I was almost ashamed to admit that I loved The Beats.”
–David O’Connor

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“[Jack Kerouac] was really trying. No matter all the negative […] every day he woke up and he pushed towards doing good with his writing.” –David O’Connor

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“So I’ve never been to the US, and I feel like if I ever go how can I go to the US and not live it like Kerouac.”
–Saloni Srivastava

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This episode was recorded on March 18th, 2022. Because we recorded via Zoom, there may be occasional audio hiccups. Our theme song is “4 am” by Makaih Beats. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher and follow us on Twitter @WritingRemixPod.