Books

Viking Press, NY. 1958. First edition. Some rubbing and light chipping to dust jacket. Green top-stain faded. Front end page and pastedown yellowed. Bookstore label affixed to rear pastedown. Not price clipped ($3.95).

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.