Vanity of Duluoz

Kerouac's, "Vanity of Duluoz" desribes the inner workings of the outerworld. As his final novel, many critics feel that the "Vanity of Duluoz" is the pinnacle of Kerouac's stream of consiousness writing style. It asks such questions as: what is the meaning of behind the meaning, and uses spontaneous prose as a means of making these meanings meaningfull. Kerouac gives much insight into the fields of both "Vanity" and "Duluoz." However, since the novel's publication critics have argued, even brawled in the alleys of academia, over the meaning of the "of" in the title.

The author failed to comment on the meaning behind the "of" in the title before his death in 1970. Critics have often wondered if the "of" was just a nessicary grammatical device, or if was Jack trying to tell us something. On one well publicized occasion in 1984, Harvard Professor Bronson Pinchot (3rd cousin to actor Bronston Pinchot http://www.bronsonpinchot.20m.com/ ) decided he was going to end the "of" arguement for good. He planned a debate, and on February 31st 1984, literary critics from around the globe converged into a Harvard lecture theature to discuss Kerouac's last novel. After a full day of intense debating and pipe smoking, the theater divided into two sides--those who thought the "of" in the title was indeed a relevant point of unknown contention, and those who found the "of" to be simply just a linking word used to join the title for grammatical purposes. Just when all hope seemed lost, an unidentified critic from New York pulled out a ghetto blaster ( http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/boombox/ ) and played Run DMC's "like that." Legend has it that the theater erupted into a b-boy dance off in which the critics from both sides headspun and wormed out their frustrations. However, the dance off was stopped suddenly when Pinchot complained of chest pains and collapsed after a particuarly great worm. Pincot died on the cardboard without having solved his life long pursuit for the meaning behind Kerouac's "of."

A week after the funeral, contemporary critics announced that they would retire the "of" debate in honor of their fallen b-boy. Currently in the Harvard lecture hall hangs Pinchot's jersy, a brown sportcoat with "of" stitched onto the back. The word "of" is no longer mentioned in the room.

With so many unanswered questions, the "Vanity of Duluoz" would be best summarized by actually pealing your fingers off of your computer mouse and reading Kerouac's great novel yourself.