GOOF BOOK

book design

Seminal Beat poet Philip Whalen wrote Goofbook for Jack Kerouac in the late 1950’s. He never meant to publish it. One of Kerouac’s Dharma Bums and a key figure in the San Francisco/East Bay poetry scene of the 50’s, Philip became a Buddhist monk in the 70’s. He went on to lead the city’s legendary Hartford Street Zen Center. In the early aughts, Philip-devotee and trusted friend, Michael Rothenberg, convinced Philip to allow Big Bridge Press to publish Goof Book. Whalen’s original typesetting and illustrations are of the essence. The cover photo features him and Kerouac, circa late ’50s.