20th Century Schizoid Man

Wow, Jack Kerouac wasn't a good fit for the U.S. Navy? Only lasted ten days on active duty? Spent 16 hours a day writing, "rambled in a grandiose, philosophical manner," and felt he was the "black sheep" of the family?

Many more exciting tidbits here.

Comments

[wellfellow]

Nice King Crimson reference! It’s about time!

[Jim Walsh]

Shades of Lenny Bruce getting himself kicked out of the Navy for cross-dressing…

[Bob Basil]

The doctors labelled him schizophrenic — “dementia praecox” — because he asked for aspirin to alleviate headaches. Anyone unlucky enough to fall into the hands of the mental-health bureaucracy knows how plausible that story is, unfortunately.

[Bob Basil]

The doctors labelled him schizophrenic — “dementia praecox” — because he asked for aspirin to alleviate headaches. Anyone unlucky enough to fall into the hands of the mental-health bureaucracy knows how plausible that story unfortunately is.

[Seamus]

I notice that all those navy documents report the dates in the usual civilian manner. That is, May 12, 1942 is shown as “5-12-42.” Does anyone know when and how the now-common military format for dates (e.g., “12 May 1942”) was introduced?

[Eric Atkinson]

I think maybe that was a Greg Lake reference.