Release
Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation was released in January 1960 on Verve Records on LP. In June 1990, Rhino Entertainment reissued the album on CD as part of the box set The Jack Kerouac Collection, also featuring Poetry for the Beat Generation, Blues and Haikus and The Last Word. The CD reissue included a bonus track, "Is There a Beat Generation?", a live lecture by Kerouac to students of Hunter College in Manhattan, New York on November 6, 1958. A remastered CD version was issued on October 28, 1997 on Verve Records.
Upon its release, the album received minimal critical reception. Allmusic reviewer Bruce Eder has since called Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation "a solo performance that transcends poetry and music" and added "it's literally spoken jazz Kerouac's most musical performance using his voice and language the way a saxophonist might improvise on a particular melodic line or riff. He's spellbinding throughout, intense, focused, and even subtly changing voices with the work itself." Eder awarded the album a full five-star rating. The album was later nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.
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