Very American, this place, very Lowell: a counterfeit of old Europe, cheap-smelling and with a huge profane green dumpster only yards away but saturated still with its own queer sincerity. Here Jack and his mother made many devout and murmuring stops on walks to and from their home in Pawtucketville. Still in use — a man who looks like Tony Soprano is praying before the Second Station of the Cross as I arrive — but not in good shape at all, the fake grotto has been made mysterious by decrepitude. The great cross in particular is in a wild state of rot. Look up — white paint is flaking from the form of Christ. Stains and tear trails of oxidation. The Savior has rusty kneecaps! And I light a candle for my family here and elsewhere, pull from my pocket the beads that have been there all day and say a rosary for the soul of old Jack Kerouac the miserable, self-crucified in the USA and lifted in pieces to heaven from Lowell, Lowell, Lowell.
Related:
Kerouac calendar, Back Beat, Oil and water?, More 
- Kerouac calendar
- Back Beat
On a Sunday afternoon in December of 1997 I hooked up with the poet Jim McCrary at a Greenwich Village saloon.
- Oil and water?
In his annual round-up , Jeffrey Gantz repeats the comment he made in his original review of the Royal Ballet’s Manon: “With its art prostituted to [the choreographer] MacMillan’s politics.”
- Piebald, 'A Friend of Mine'
Ghost ride it
- Review: The Invention of Lying
In the world of this debut effort from Ricky Gervais, there are no movies. There’s only Lecture Films, a studio that produces pictures in which actors read from accounts of historical events.
- Noir comes to Providence
Former Providence Journal reporter Mark Arsenault’s new novel, Loot the Moon , is the second in a series focused on obituary writer, inveterate gambler, and investigator Billy Povich.
- Catholic Tilt
If, sometime in the next few decades, humanity kicks the religion habit once and for all, the current crop of atheist agitators will deserve plenty of credit.
- Interview: James Carroll
The Phoenix 's Adam Reilly recently spoke with Globe columnist James Carroll about his new book, Practicing Catholic (Houghton Mifflin), and his critical but durable relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.
- Dirty Harry goes to church: Clint and Catholicism
In Mystic River , Clint Eastwood examined the damage to a close-knit group of Boston friends, years after one of them was sexually abused by a stranger, in a film depicting the power of sexual abuse with Catholic overtones.
- Taking the Fifth
The September 4 Democratic primary has compelling interest beyond the borders of the Fifth Congressional District.
- Lucky 13
Our producers Hall of Fame
- Less
Topics:
Books
, Culture and Lifestyle, Mike Wallace, Tony Soprano, More
, Culture and Lifestyle, Mike Wallace, Tony Soprano, Sports Cars, Catholicism, On the Road, Religion, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Lowell, Less
