This book gathers travel pieces and sketches drawn from Kerouac's journeys. It covers his time as a fire lookout on a mountain in Washington state, trips across the United States by rail and road, a stay in Mexico, and visits to Morocco, France and England. A few essays reflect on the Beat life and on jazz, and there is a short note on how he approached writing. The pieces are loose and personal, full of small encounters and shifting landscapes. Together they offer a good introduction to his voice and his restless way of seeing the world.
Quotes
One night I realized that when you give people understanding and encouragement a funny little meek childish look abashes their eyes, no matter what they've been doing they weren't sure it was right — lambies all over the world.
The happiness consists in realizing that it is all a great strange dream.
No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength. Learning for instance, to eat when he's hungry and sleep when he's sleepy.