On the Road swings to the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs, with Sal Paradise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat. Now recognized as a modern classic, its American Dream is nearer that of Walt Whitman than Scott Fitzgerald, and it goes racing towards the sunset with unforgettable exuberance, poignancy and autobiographical passion.

Twenty-nine poems from the 1950's.

An anthology of early stories by the poet of the Beat generation. Topics range from his time in Columbia University, from which he was expelled, to an excerpt from a novel which is based on his service in the merchant marine.

The Dharma Bums was published one year after On the Road made Jack Kerouac a celebrity and a spokesperson for the Beat Generation. Sparked by his contagious zest for life, the novel relates the adventures of an ebullient group of Beatnik seekers in a freewheeling exploration of Buddhism and the search for Truth. -- from publisher description.

Coming down from his carefree youth and unwanted fame, Jack Kerouac undertakes a mature confrontation of some of his most troubling emotional issues: a burgeoning problem with alcoholism, addiction, fear, and insecurity. He dutifully records his ever-changing states of consciousness, which culminate in a powerful religious experience. Big Sur was written some time after Jack Kerouac's best-known works, following a visit to northern California and...

"Philip Whalen was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and key figure in the literary and artistic scene that unfolded in San Francisco in the 1950s and '60s. When the Beat writers came West, Whalen became a revered, much-loved member of the group. Erudite, shy, and profoundly spiritual, his presence not only moved his immediate circle of Beat cohorts, but his powerful, startling, innovative work would come to impact American poetry to the present day....

The beatniks: Commonly acknowledged as the first beatnik movie. The plot concerns a gang who makes trouble and takes women with them wherever they go. The leader of the gang is discovered by a talent agent and signed to a recording contract. He tries to separate himself from the past, but gang members have different plans. Wild guitar: Hick hipster Bud Eagle arrives in L.A. just in time for a TV talent show where he and his guitar become an instant...

Kerouac's ultimate account of his voyages with Neal Cassady.