kerouac’s ear

“Kerouac’s Ear” is a WWII vintage electro-mechanical typewriter which periodically types out text fragments in the beat style. This text is distilled from online chatrooms where the style of each line from hundreds of posts is considered. When a line of chat text is found to resemble Kerouac’s style, it is passed to the typewriter to be typed on the long paper roll. Over time enough text will be gathered to compose a new novel with the same form and style as the novels “On the Road” and “The Subterraneans.”

Kerouac specialized in recreating dialogue. He experimented with transcription devices including tape-recorders in his quest for accurate representation. Kerouac’s approach prompted the famous critique: “It isn’t writing at all; it’s typing.” Kerouac’s style is be-bop enough that I doubt anybody actually spoke that way–at least not before the novels were published. There is evidence that his style prompted imitators, and so his fame granted kerouac a self-fulfilling prophecy. What evidence is there of kerouac’s style in today’s usage? kerouac’s ear monitors chatrooms for this style, typing it onto the paper roll when it’s found.

example

RAZORLIGHT - LOS ANGELES WALTZ CENTIPETE VERSUS TARANTULA ...
HAWT! OH WORKY WORKY WORKY WORKY. HMM.... @ANDRESMILLEIRO MURPHY 
ANDA SUELTO JAIL SHUT UP JOHN C JE N'AI PAS ENCORE D'AMIS ! NORMAL,
JE SUIS NOUVEAU ! ELECTRIC SKYCHURCH - LILY PAD JAKE CHILDS - 
FORGOTTEN SEBASTIAN MACLEANS NATURALLY MASSIVE.