Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 23, 2026

Minor Characters

Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir (1983) is a memoir by Joyce Johnson documenting her time with Jack Kerouac. The book also tells the story of the women of the Beat Generation, the "minor characters" of its title.

Last revised
Jun 23, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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Wikipedia ↗

Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir (1983) is a memoir by Joyce Johnson documenting her time with Jack Kerouac.1 The book also tells the story of the women of the Beat Generation, the "minor characters" of its title.

The book won a National Book Critics Circle Award.2

Critical reception

Kirkus Reviews wrote that "as a montage of 1950s Village life, with Mr. and Mrs. LeRoi Jones and Franz Kline and others passing through, this is almost always evocative, frequently quite touching."3

References

References

  1. "THE GIRL IN THE BOY GANG". The New York Times.
  2. "One Point Three". Los Angeles Times. August 23, 1998.
  3. "Minor Characters". Kirkus Reviews.
External links