Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac

In order to counter this persistent misconception Melehy centers his study on "the basic biographical fact" of Kerouac's French Canadian upbringing (1).As Melehy summarizes: "At birth he was given the name Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac, at the time his native Lowell, Massachusetts was about 25 percent French-speaking, and by his own account he didn't speak English before he was six or so, and with an accent until age sixteen." This emphasis guides Melehy's readings of Kerouac's works as exercises in the study of exile, with particular focus given to The Town and the City (1950), On the Road, Doctor Sax, and Satori in Paris (1966).