Anthropological contributions to conflict resolution Book

Amburn's book is correct in its contention that Kerouac's sexuality is fascinating and needs more attention. Unfortunately, this book treats the subject far too reductively, explaining Kerouac's closeted sexuality as the single missing key to the author's alcoholism and early death, as well as reading every other detail of the author's life. On top of that, and as if to back off of the very claims he asserts, the book footnotes its claims very sloppily. Allegedly, all sorts of people in Lowell, Massachusetts, Kerouac's hometown, knew he was secretly gay. But when you try to find out who exactly said what, it's impossible, given Amburn's practice of only footnoting once every four or five paragraphs, then listing a number of sources, largely personal interviews, so that little can be directly identified and nothing can be confirmed. Amburn's second biggest source is the novels themselves, which he interprets narrowly, to confirm his thesis. Amburn himself was Kerouac's editor late in his career, and claims this gives him special insight into the author. But a limited acquaintance can also give someone a skewed picture of a person. That's a charitable reading. A less charitable reading is that Amburn was deliberately out to exploit his subject for personal gain, whatever the facts might be. The book carries you through to the end, but this is also partially because it's hard to fall asleep when you're frequently cringing.