This novel continues the story of Jack Duluoz, following him from a summer alone as a fire lookout on a remote peak to the busy streets of Mexico City, San Francisco, New York and beyond. After the solitude of the mountain, he finds ordinary life harder to bear. He meets old friends, among them figures from the Beat circle, as his fame and unease grow. The book reflects on friendship, spiritual longing and the cost of a wandering life. It is a thoughtful, often melancholy part of Kerouac's connected autobiographical work.
Quotes
And I will die, and you will die, and we all will die, and even the stars will fade out one after another in time.
I could give you a list a mile long of the homosexuals in the arts but there's no point in making a big tzimis about a relatively harmless and cool state of affairs — Each man to his own tastes.
There's your Karma ripe as peaches.
A sociable smile is nothing but teeth.