THE SUBTERRANEANS

New York: Ballantine Books, 1973. Very good plus.. First edition thus of Kerouac's novella recounting his relationship with Alene Lee, who picked him up for his "beautiful" profile and walked away from him in her own good time. Kerouac's fictionalized account of his romance with "Mardou Fox" — based on Alene Lee, an African American member of the Beat circle who demanded anonymity during her lifetime but whose life has since been illuminated by her daughter's recollections: "She was, quite simply, one of the most brilliant of all the Beats that Kerouac knew in his days in the coffee shops and bars of 1950s New York City... To put it bluntly, an intellectual (truncated) black and indigenous woman actually existed and was formative in the creation of at least one of the works of what some may call a great American writer" (Diamente). 4.25" x 7" Original pictorial wrappers. Ballantine Books #23556, cover price $1.50. 152 pages. Yellow edges. Creasing to joints with slight rubbing and edgewear, else fresh. (Inventory #: 53466)