Desolation Peak
Collected Writings of Jack Kerouac
$33.99
- Paperback
312 pages
- Release Date
15 December 2026
Summary
“Something will happen to me on Desolation Peak…I can feel it.”
In the summer of 1956, Jack Kerouac hitchhiked from Mill Valley, CA, to the North Cascades to spend two months serving as a fire lookout for the US Forest Service. Taking only the Diamond Sutra for reading material, he intended to spend his time in deep contemplation and to achieve enlightenment. He wrote in his journal that he planned “to concentrate on emptiness of self, other selves, living be…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781644285879 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1644285878 |
| Author: | Jack Kerouac |
| Publisher: | Rare Bird Books |
| Imprint: | Rare Bird Books |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 312 |
| Release Date: | 15 December 2026 |
| Weight: | 256g |
| Dimensions: | 140mm x 216mm |
| Series: | Sal Paradise |
You Can Find This Book In
Critics Review
“Desolation Peak is vital reading. It establishes that Jack Kerouac was more than a road warrior out for kicks. Or some wayward beatnik. It documents a man at war with his demons and winning as he loses.” * PopMatters *
“Whether you’re new to Kerouac, searching for inspiration in his words, or are a self-proclaimed “mad one” looking to make sense of it all, this quote book will undoubtedly serve as a go-to reference for the discerning Kerouac reader.”
– Porter Square Books on Truth and Beautiful Meaningful Lies
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1922, the youngest of three children in a Franco-American family. He attended local Catholic and public schools and won a scholarship to Columbia University in New York City, where he first met Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs.
His first novel, The Town and the City, appeared in 1950, but it was On the Road, published in 1957 and memorializing his adventures with Neal Cassady, that epitomized to the world what became known as the “Beat generation” and made Kerouac one of the most best-known writers of his time.
Publication of many other books followed, among them The Dharma Bums, The Subterraneans, and Big Sur. Kerouac considered all of his autobiographical fiction to be part of “one vast book,” The Duluoz Legend.
He died in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1969, at the age of forty-seven.
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.