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What Happened Later
Poetic, poignant and clever. A unique and engaging story of two lives that were forever changed by one book.
(Thomas Allen, VLB Editeur)
World Rights Available Ex:
English Canada: Thomas Allen Publishers, September 2007
French Canada: VLB Editeur
Shortlisted, 21st Annual Trillium Book Award, English Finalist
What Happened Later tells the story of what happened after the fame generated by On the Road planted the seeds of Kerouac’s tragic demise. Poetic, poignant and clever, it is a unique and engaging story of two lives that were forever changed by one book.
Interweaving the story of one man's slow decline with one boy's coming of age, What Happened Later explores the ever-shifting dualities of myth and reality, loss and hope, innocence and experienc, endings and beginnings.
“Something's happened to Ray Robertson. And that something is Jack Kerouac. … What Happened Later, a ripping riff on Kerouac and what he means to a fictional character named Ray Robertson, is wildly effective. [Robertson] gives us a clear-eyed tale of how a genuine talent gets utterly wasted, in all senses of the word, and another one grows. …it has a huge amount of humour and heart. The year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of On The Road. We'll doubtless be seeing tributes galore, but I can't think of a better one than this.”
– NOW Magazine
“…in What Happened Later, Ray Robertson has figured out a way to do it. The result is a highly pleasing synthesis of characters, places and times that at first glance have nothing to do with one another, but which are ultimately entwined on the levels of spirit, poetry and self-exploration. Robertson's prose is effortless. His chapters on Kerouac, comprising half the book, are so vivid that one easily imagines the sights, sounds and smells… This is a study of Kerouac the human being, who he was and how he got to be that way; it is …a moving, insightful psychological portrait of a man who, for millions of readers, personified the freedom of the Beat Generation and the spirit of life on the road. Best of all, the congenital empty ache in the heart that makes writers writers is well captured in this marvellously schizophrenic novel, which, like all good novels, lingers in the mind long after it's been put down.”
– The Globe & Mail
“Using clear, lean prose with just enough of Jack's own spontaneity, Robertson makes the American icon fresh again, Canadian-style. The novel is full of such gems, a joy for any Kerouac or ex-Kerouac fan. A master of dialogue, Robertson's fallen king of the beats is fluid, real and written from a place of sincere love, not idolatry. Subtle and more leisurely paced, the Ray chapters are no less entertaining… Perhaps Robertson's finest to date.”
– eye weekly
“The result is a transfixing, brave and ultimately moving work that succeeds despite the significant hurdles it sets in its own path. What Happened Later is an accomplished, compelling work that rings true in every sense of the word, with sharp characterization and acute insight. Most important, it deftly captures the spell of On the Road, how it can grip the imagination and change lives even at a distance. Anyone who has fallen under that spell (and I confess that I was one) will be able to relate.”
– Robert J. Wiersema, The National Post
“[Full of] rudely confident, eerily virtuosic prose. If Robertson, in the voice of his sombre second character, was wishing that he, too, could attain mastery "of my craft, of the form, of my mind," then the accomplishment so obvious here is all the reassurance he, or anyone else, should ever need.”
– The Toronto Star
“Robertson's achievement here is to paint a sympathetic portrait without whitewashing. Through Robertson, we gain insight into the deeply flawed man behind the famous writer... Only Robertson knows for sure how much of What Happened Later is autobiography. For readers, it doesn't matter. What does matter is the masterful way Robertson recalls in such loving detail life in small-town Ontario in the 1970s. His account is so vivid it's like looking at a photo album or a pictorial history. Moreover, the character Ray is a very appealing creation. Robertson successfully gives expression to the same kind of stream-of-consciousness writing that makes On the Road such an infectious, glorious and joyous trip. Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid What Happened Later is that it does On the Road proud.”
– Guelph Mercury
“Robertson, in imagistic prose, moves adroitly between his own fictionalized youth and the story of the steadily weakening Kerouac. …what we have in What Happened Later is an ambitious, dramatic, and creative memoir…”
– Quill & Quire
"Two wonderful characters emerge from What Happened Later. The first is Jack Kerouac, fully-blown and reeling drunkenly through the cosmos. The second is Ray Robertson himself--compassionate, wise, and very, very funny."
– Paul Quarrington, author of Galveston and Whale Music
"In a prose honed to a beautiful, seeming casualness, Ray Robertson sets off on his own road with Jack Kerouac to see if he too, like Jack, can strike four seconds of lightning in the cloudless skies, if he too can make a little noise in the big silence. He does, this is it, this is lightning."
– Barry Callaghan, author of Between Trains and Barrelhouse Kings |
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