---
product_id: 12448747
title: "Book of Sketches (Penguin Poets)"
price: "$U1779"
currency: UYU
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.uy/products/12448747-book-of-sketches-penguin-poets
store_origin: UY
region: Uruguay
---

# Book of Sketches (Penguin Poets)

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## Description

Book of Sketches (Penguin Poets) [Kerouac, Jack, Condo, George] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Book of Sketches (Penguin Poets)

Review: not a slight work in the canon - Published by the Kerouac estate in 2006, from 15 of Kerouac's breast pocket notebooks, BOOK OF SKETCHES charts the journeys of our peripatetic narrator back and forth across the country and then to Europe before a return West. The "sketching" method, developed by Kerouac in the early 50's, reached apotheosis in the 1st section of VISIONS OF CODY, though a case could be made for BOOK OF SKETCHES being exemplar of the methodology. Within the poetic phraseology of the sketches, haiku are embedded like gold and silver in a rock vein: "rain nails kiss/the dance of the shiny/road"--"the weeping willow/waves ten thousand/ goodbyes to the wind"--"Rockies? they have sides that/sink like despair & rise/like hope." On his return East from CA ("nothing down the line but/gray indifference") Kerouac has a layover in NYC. It is October, which, he writes, "sits golden on the'iron old wood & white gulled/rivers." In the "purple/phosphorescent night/fall now pinks the/white pg of life." Kerouac's onomatopoetic usage of language--a distinguishing aspect of his writing--is evident throughout BOOK OF SKETCHES, as in lines "crashby/dingdang of opposite/train"--"wail of the/train/chipachup of the/locomotive"--"crickets repeat the/idiot creek creek," and elsewhere. At his mother's place in Ozone Park Kerouac sketches the laundry, owned by a Chinaman with "little eyes in wrinkled worry/of his pone Yonkers/ Mongoil bone." From Ozone Park Kerouac travels to Tangiers (see DESOLATION ANGELS, pt. 2) then to Paris, London, and back to US and Mexico, and (1957) "saturday Mex City." The book's opening sketches (time spent with his sister Nin and her family in Rocky Mount, NC)--achieve an intimacy lacking in later sketches ,when Kerouac the narrator is alone with only his notebook...Heartache is one of the prominent notes here--heartache and honesty, in an aural feast.
Review: I was expecting pictures... - Being a Kerouac-aholic, I bought this without really reading the description. I already owned a book of Kerouac's actual artwork and I assumed (judging by the cover) that this would be a book of actual drawings by him. Once it arrived I realized it was just writing. The writing is of course great because Kerouac is great, so still 5 stars, but I wish it would've had drawings haha.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,281,840 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4,425 in Literary Criticism & Theory #9,797 in Short Stories Anthologies #36,090 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (63) |
| Dimensions  | 4.74 x 1.1 x 6.06 inches |
| Edition  | Later Printing Used |
| ISBN-10  | 0142002151 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0142002155 |
| Item Weight  | 11.2 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Part of series  | Penguin Poets |
| Print length  | 432 pages |
| Publication date  | April 4, 2006 |
| Publisher  | Penguin Books |

## Images

![Book of Sketches (Penguin Poets) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81mLVaipweL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ not a slight work in the canon
*by W***E on April 25, 2019*

Published by the Kerouac estate in 2006, from 15 of Kerouac's breast pocket notebooks, BOOK OF SKETCHES charts the journeys of our peripatetic narrator back and forth across the country and then to Europe before a return West. The "sketching" method, developed by Kerouac in the early 50's, reached apotheosis in the 1st section of VISIONS OF CODY, though a case could be made for BOOK OF SKETCHES being exemplar of the methodology. Within the poetic phraseology of the sketches, haiku are embedded like gold and silver in a rock vein: "rain nails kiss/the dance of the shiny/road"--"the weeping willow/waves ten thousand/ goodbyes to the wind"--"Rockies? they have sides that/sink like despair & rise/like hope." On his return East from CA ("nothing down the line but/gray indifference") Kerouac has a layover in NYC. It is October, which, he writes, "sits golden on the'iron old wood & white gulled/rivers." In the "purple/phosphorescent night/fall now pinks the/white pg of life." Kerouac's onomatopoetic usage of language--a distinguishing aspect of his writing--is evident throughout BOOK OF SKETCHES, as in lines "crashby/dingdang of opposite/train"--"wail of the/train/chipachup of the/locomotive"--"crickets repeat the/idiot creek creek," and elsewhere. At his mother's place in Ozone Park Kerouac sketches the laundry, owned by a Chinaman with "little eyes in wrinkled worry/of his pone Yonkers/ Mongoil bone." From Ozone Park Kerouac travels to Tangiers (see DESOLATION ANGELS, pt. 2) then to Paris, London, and back to US and Mexico, and (1957) "saturday Mex City." The book's opening sketches (time spent with his sister Nin and her family in Rocky Mount, NC)--achieve an intimacy lacking in later sketches ,when Kerouac the narrator is alone with only his notebook...Heartache is one of the prominent notes here--heartache and honesty, in an aural feast.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I was expecting pictures...
*by M***K on March 15, 2011*

Being a Kerouac-aholic, I bought this without really reading the description. I already owned a book of Kerouac's actual artwork and I assumed (judging by the cover) that this would be a book of actual drawings by him. Once it arrived I realized it was just writing. The writing is of course great because Kerouac is great, so still 5 stars, but I wish it would've had drawings haha.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Great American Poem
*by S***Y on November 5, 2006*

I know this was an accumulation of Kerouac's observations from the early 1950's until 1957 written in little notebooks...writings that capture the detail of the world (mostly America) as he mentally photographed it and transcribed it ( as a writer's exercise or batting practice)...and I know that he took all these observations and typed them up as a manuscript titled book of sketches...But upon reading this...this stands as the greatest poem ever written about America...

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*Product available on Desertcart Uruguay*
*Store origin: UY*
*Last updated: 2026-02-24*