Books

First Printing, a review copy, with the publisher's publicity letter folded and laid in. Octavo (21cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in silver and metallic green on spine and front cover; green topstain; dustjacket; [viii],244,[2]pp. Topstain a bit faded, some trivial wear to spine ends, and a faint spot of discoloration to upper front cover; contents fresh; very Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $3.95), showing trivial wear to extremities, some of the usual light rubbing to the panels, and a small moisture spot to upper front panel (noticeable chiefly on verso); Near Fine. Kerouac's fourth novel, a follow-up to On the Road, in which two young men, seeking to find themselves through Zen Buddhism, travel through much of California, experimenting with poverty, meditation, and contemplation of the mountains. The publicity letter, dated a little over a week prior to the novel's October 2, 1958 release, prints two long quotes by Kerouac in response to critic Robert Brustein's "Cult of the Unthink" article in Horizon, concluding with a synopsis of Dharma Bums. Charters A4.a; Baird 1370.

The Dharma Bums is a 1958 novel by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. The semi-autobiographical story is based on the author's experiences during the mid-1950s while living in California, after he'd become interested in Buddhism's spiritual mode of understanding. One of the main characters, Japhy Ryder, is based on the real poet Gary Snyder, who was a close friend and whose interest in Buddhism influenced Kerouac.