Despite everything, I continue hanging out at places in Manhattan where Kerouac, along with the Beats, used to drinking at. But I'm less and less enamored of the idea. These places are bound to change. It's as if I were to try and find the golden age of St. Germain des Près or the Latin Quarter in Paris today.... a vain quest from the start. Nevertheless I come across this old, interesting bar, McSorley's, a place which hasn't changed since it was founded in 1854 and which has an atmosphere memorable for its authenticity.
I tell myself that Kerouac was most likely here to have a drink at one time or another, since he used to always hang around nearby. This was, I imagine, in the 1940's when he sat with elbows on the wooden countertop sipping a beer with a buddy... As for me, I decide to give up for good my wanderings in Manhattan and trade it for the real New York beat, in Brooklyn of course...
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