The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac - 1958

VERY GOOD condition — DUST JACKET: Wear & tear to top and bottom edges of spine, panels, folds and flaps. Minor chipping to top and bottom of spine and corresponding corners. Closed tears, top of spine. Minor chipping to all outside corners, except bottom left, back panel. Shelf rubbing/discoloration, front and back panels. Tears mended on reverse with archival tape. BOARDS: Very good condition. BOOK: Very good condition. Topstain. Slight lean to spine. Please inspect photos closely for condition details.

Here on offer is a very nice copy of Jack Kerouac's fourth published novel, The Dharma Bums, published just one year after "On the Road", and another success for Kerouac, becoming one of his most popular books. This copy is a 1st trade edition, 1st printing of the work published by Viking Press in 1958. The dust jacket is protected from further wear by a Mylar sleeve.

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"A story of the quest for truth, The Dharma Bums is one of Jack Kerouac's most powerful and influential novels. Two ebullient young men search for Dharma the Zen way, heading off to the high Sierras to seek the lesson of solitude. But in wildly Bohemian San Francisco, with its marathon drinking bouts, poetry jam sessions, and "yabyum" experiments, they find the ascetic route hard to follow. Full of brilliant descriptions of nature, a cast of refreshingly naïve and sophisticated characters, and the classic wit and philosophy of Kerouac, The Dharma Bums is a heroic odyssey for the Beat generation."

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Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), 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.

. . . 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.

The above text was taken from, respectively, McClelland & Stewart (via Google Books) and Wikipedia.