Empty Phantoms: Interviews and Encounters with Jack Kerouac Paperback - 2005

Paul Maher, Jr., is one of the young lions of Kerouac scholarship; what's more, many of Kerouac's family, friends, and contemporaries (including John Sampas and David Amram) endorse Maher. Maher served as editor of The Kerouac Quarterly, to which he contributed, and wrote "The Seeds of Galloway: Jack Kerouac's Lowell" (Eastern National, 1999), published for America's National Parks system. He also teaches a course on Kerouac at Middlesex Community College.
Maher's "Kerouac: The Definitive Biography" (Taylor Trade Publishing, June 2004), based entirely on primary sources, is the most thoroughly researched and comprehensive life of Kerouac to date. It's been selected by both "Biography" magazine and "Vanity Fair" for their "Hot Lists." It's also received endorsements from Kerouac's literary executor John Sampas, composer David Amram (author of "Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac"), and historian Douglas Brinkley (author of "Rosa Parks;" "The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey beyond the White House;" and "American Heritage's History of the United States"). UPDATE: In April '05, "Kerouac" was named a finalist for the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award in the category of biography.