Desolation Angels (1965) Signed First Edition Reference

Desolation Angels is among Kerouac’s longest and most ambitious novels — a sweeping autobiographical narrative covering the period from his summer as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak in 1956 through his travels in Mexico, Tangier, Paris, and London with William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and Peter Orlovsky, and ending with the publication of On the Road and the onslaught of fame. Published by Coward-McCann in 1965, it was written in two parts: the first in 1956, immediately after the Desolation Peak experience, and the second in 1961, with the darker perspective of a man already damaged by celebrity.

The Novel

The book is structured in two halves that reflect Kerouac’s changing consciousness. The first half, “Desolation in Solitude,” is charged with the ecstatic energy of the mid-1950s Beat scene — the Desolation Peak sections are among Kerouac’s finest nature writing, and the subsequent travels through San Francisco, Mexico, and North Africa read with the exuberance of On the Road. The second half, “Passing Through,” is markedly darker — Kerouac has become famous, and the tone shifts from celebration to exhaustion.

The novel provides the most complete portrait of the Beat inner circle in action — Burroughs in Tangier (working on Naked Lunch), Ginsberg in Paris, Corso bumming around Europe — and its documentary value is immense even apart from its literary qualities.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Coward-McCann, New York Publication date: 1965

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $2,000–$6,000
• Inscribed copies: $3,000–$8,000
• Unsigned first edition, fine/fine: $300–$700

A substantial and important Kerouac novel at moderate prices. Its scope and its portraits of the Beat inner circle give it particular value for collectors interested in the movement as a whole.