Kerouac's The Dharma Bums

The Dharma Bums really is a book of its time, capturing the 1960's beat culture perfectly. Kerouac tells a very personal story in his distinctive compelling style and it is easy to see there is much basis in truth here. It is a largely auto-biographical tale, with Kerouac and the 'hero' one and the same and the revelations of his travels with a rucksack and a Zen zealot friend are so easy to read and difficult to forget. The book is filled with mood and some of language used is more poetry than novel. You can easily re-read this a number of time to pick up the nuances and quality writing. A first class atmospheric read of a man's search for himself at a time when many people were trying to do exactly the same, especially in the California locations