On the Road / The Dharma Bums / The Subterraneans

by Jack Kerouac

Three Jack Kerouac books in one volume. Including On the Road, The Dharma Bums, and The Subterraneans.

Genres: Fiction, Travel, Classics, American, Literature, Adventure

599 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1993

About the author

Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.

Of French-Canadian ancestry, Kerouac was raised in a French-speaking home in Lowell, Massachusetts. He "learned English at age six and spoke with a marked accent into his late teens." During World War II, he served in the United States Merchant Marine; he completed his first novel at the time, which was published more than 40 years after his death. His first published book was The Town and the City (1950), and he achieved widespread fame and notoriety with his second, On the Road, in 1957. It made him a beat icon, and he went on to publish 12 more novels and numerous poetry volumes.
Kerouac is recognized for his style of stream of consciousness spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as his Catholic spirituality, jazz, travel, promiscuity, life in New York City, Buddhism, drugs, and poverty. He became an underground celebrity and, with other Beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements. He has a lasting legacy, greatly influencing many of the cultural icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jerry Garcia and The Doors.
In 1969, at the age of 47, Kerouac died from an abdominal hemorrhage caused by a lifetime of heavy drinking. Since then, his literary prestige has grown, and several previously unseen works have been published.

Reviews

[Jenn Neely]

Couldn't finish "On the Road" so I'm not going to torture myself with the other 2 stories.

[Mardou Percepied]

Super trío del poder beat.

[Du]

I read each of these books before, but not as one continuous read. Of course using different names makes it a little John but it is such cultured writing, and I just love the theory and the vision that it tries to provide always enjoyed on the road and I think the dharma bums might be my favorite overall Kerouac. The subterranean's is just fun to add on.

[Tom]

Read this a long time ago, should probably read it again. I've read other Kerouac books and stories they seem to me to capture a life searching for something but embracing the moment as well.

[Karen Koppy]

Well, now I know what the "Beat generation" was all about. A bunch of egomaniacs that spent all their time trying to impress others with their "intellectual, creative weirdism" literature that we sould all try to figure out the deep meanings of. They were all high on chemicals, or deeply depressed (on other chemicals). For me, On the Road was a poetic study of a bunch of bums who had no respect for women or even themselves, who go back and forth from New York to California searching for something they never found, and end up writing some books about. Dharma bums was more interesting to me because the drug scene wasn't as repulsive. It was more toned down and I enjoyed reading about the beauty of the outdoors. The Subterraneans was really depressing, with a loser druggie alcoholic guy that literally uses a beautiful, young woman with true intellectual possibilities. He spends all his time destroying any kind of a meaningful relationship they could have and when she gives him the boot he goes and cries in the same railroad yards he hangs out in bumming around the country. The only reason I could finish these books is because Kerouac has such a poetic gift, that he made it possible for me to read about a bunch of people I couldn't stand. With all their faults, they were a fascinating bunch of weirdos.

[Lauren]

It's Kerouac, so it's classic, but that doesn't mean its not easy to get through. This collection of 3 stories took me a good month, and usually i'm a very fast reader. The overall effect of each story is worth it, it's just the getting there that's questionable. For me at least. Love the freedom and going on your whims. Almost makes me wnat to just take off... key word being almost.

[Carrie]

I've heard about these books for years and know about the Beats but have never actually read any Kerouac until now. I definitely think if I had read these books 10 years ago that I would have really loved them. I could definitely appreciate "On the Road" and "The Subterraneans" but I had a hard time getting into "The Dharma Bums." Glad that I finally read Kerouac, though.

[Kate Tobiczyk]

my teen years in a nut shell

[Meg]

Poor Dean!

These crazy cats! so funny!

[Melissa]

Kerouac is always a pleasure. I love Japhy Ryder! I still have the Subterraneans to read.

[Jessica Zu]

Equally bad as "Eat Pray Love". Pretty much juvenile hullucinators playing with fancy foreign stuff. Not too different from Kipling's Kim. Orientalism seems to last forever.

[Lisa]

loved them all.

[Natalie]

This one too :-)