Recommended by
- Steve Jobs — On Daniel Kottke's list of books he and Jobs read together 1972–74, presented at the 2015 Dent Conference source ↗
Summary
Jack Kerouac's novel based on his experiences exploring Buddhism and mountaineering in the 1950s, following narrator Ray Smith and his friend Japhy Ryder (based on poet Gary Snyder) as they hike, meditate, and debate poetry and Zen philosophy. A companion to On the Road, the book captures the Beat Generation's turn toward Eastern spirituality and the search for meaning outside mainstream American materialism.