As I write this review (on 11 March, 2022), tomorrow in the 100th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's birth. A good time to start, catch up on, or re-read his "Duluoz Legend" series! (the books which are fictionalized narratives of his life, including his famed "On the Road"). "Maggie Cassidy" is the story of Kerouac's first love, and is such a good book. Taking place when he is 16-17 years old, it shows his relationship to Maggie, as well as his love of his family and close friends and his life in school, as well as his social life. I love his "rat-a-tat" style of writing (it may take getting used to for some), especially when the characters are talking or interacting with each other. It takes place in a small town in Massachusetts, and most of the characters are French-Canadian (as was Kerouac), and you get the feeling that this is exactly how they would have behaved. A good book to start with when you begin reading Kerouac. ( )

I'm still not enjoying these early days of Jack Kerouac books as much as I did his life from "On the Road" on. But this one was a little better than the previous ones. It is about Jack's high school life, and his first 'true' love, Maggie. (well, another girl named Pauline might have been 'first', but her name's not on the cover, now is it?) Kerouac really captures the mania of a first love very well, with all of it's quirks, uneasiness, and intense feelings. The other parts of his life in this book, particularly the pieces when he is hanging out with his friends, are not as interesting. Heck, I hardly understood their dialogues at all! (did people really talk like that back then?) I also wasn't interested in all of the minute details of life in Lowell, and those details take up a lot of room in this book! I think if I was from Lowell, or really interested in what life was like pre-WWII in the Massachusetts area, this story would have won me over. But I wasn't, so it didn't. And that ending is quite a stinker. Jack should have stopped at 45 chapters. ( )

This was another great book by Kerouac. The autobiographical details that are mixed in this ring of truth and a sense of purity for the development of his main character- and himself. It spells out what it means to have loved, someone's first love, and lost it alongside growing up. Kerouac writes from the heart here, and in a poetic style of prose that is palatable to the reader. I was quite impressed with this- Kerouac did not hold back. Through his efforts, he turned this into something memorable, and accessible, for all readers.

4 stars- well earned! ( )

Least favorite book of Kerouac's I've ever read.

It took me nearly three weeks to get through it, I just had to put it down constantly because I couldn't get through it in a sitting. ( )

The spontaneous prose in Maggie Cassidy is certainly more self-evident than in On the Road. However, Neil Cassidy's verve sustains the plot whereas Maggie Cassidy is considerably more beat and indeed, more artistic. This style would be exceedingly difficult to imitate! ( )