A witty, moving philosophical novel, Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums is a journey of self-discovery through the lens of Zen Buddhist thought. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Ann Douglas. Following the explosive energy of On the Road, the book that put the Beat Genration on the literary map - and Jack Kerouac on the bestseller list - comes The Dharma Bums, in which Kerouac charts the spiritual quest of a group of friends in search of Dharma, or Truth. Ray Smith and his friend Japhy, along with ...
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A witty, moving philosophical novel, Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums is a journey of self-discovery through the lens of Zen Buddhist thought. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Ann Douglas. Following the explosive energy of On the Road, the book that put the Beat Genration on the literary map - and Jack Kerouac on the bestseller list - comes The Dharma Bums, in which Kerouac charts the spiritual quest of a group of friends in search of Dharma, or Truth. Ray Smith and his friend Japhy, along with Morley the yodeller, head off into the high Sierras to seek the lesson of solitude and experience the Zen way of life. But in wildly Bohemian San Francisco, with its poetry jam sessions, marathon drinking bouts and experiments in 'yabyum', they find the ascetic route distinctly hard to follow. Jack Kerouac (1922-69) was an American novelist, poet, artist and part of the Beat Generation. His first published novel, The Town and the City, appeared in 1950, but it was On the Road, published in 1957, that made Kerouac famous. Publication of his many other books followed, among them The Subterraneans, Big Sur, and The Dharma Bums. Kerouac died in Florida at the age of forty-seven. If you enjoyed The Dharma Bums, you might like Kerouac's On the Road, also available in Penguin Classics. 'A vivid evocation of part of our time' New York Post 'A descriptive excitement unmatched since the days of Thomas Wolfe' The New York Times Book Review
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Seller's Description:
Paperback. Cover and spine in good condition. Spine is tight. Pages are clean, no markings, notes or stains. Ships from Friends bookstore to benefit Beaverton (Oregon) library.
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Seller's Description:
n/a. Fine. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. Signet has put the hippie spin on this paperback edition of The Dharma Bums from the 1970s: "The book that turned on the psychedelic generation...Here are the orgiastic sexual sprees, the cool jazz bouts, the poetry love-ins, and the marathon binges of the kids who are hooked on Sensation and looking for the high..." The cover photo is redolent of Woodstock, which came a decade after this was published, though The Dharma Bums had an undeniable influence on the hippie generation. This was Kerouac's followup to On The Road and was also a bestseller. ---------------Like new except for neat signature at top of inside front free endpaper along with 1978 date. Also a faint impression of a stock number ("H78$$") at the top of that page. Otherwise, near perfect; no marks, underlining, notes, dogears, tears, bends, or folds.
This is, in my opinion, Kerouac's best book. Dharma Bums follows a young group of beats around the emerging northern california scene. The introduction of the zen way of life and its different interpretations by different people is vey interesting. THe imagery Kerouac provides is beautiful, especially his time on Desolation Point. A must read for anyone interested in Kerouac or the Beats.
