In conformist 1950s America, Jack Kerouac's On the Road was greeted with dismay by the traditionalists and with delirium by those who craved the freedom he symbolized and the universe he created. Ever since, his hunt for the big experience and his longing for greatness have turned him into an icon. Barry Miles, a friend of Kerouac's, provides a portrait of this complex figure whose joyous incoherence, drug-induced ecstasy, genuine mysticism and constant craving has inspired many to take to the road.

"Miles familiarizes even old close readers with a fine map of Burroughs' mind." --Allen Ginsberg Iconoclast; visionary; homosexual crusader; drug advocate; teacher and elder statesman to Jack Kracouac, Allen Ginsberg, and the Beats; anti-hero guru to each successive counter-culture generation--this is a portait of a man who remains one of the most complex and controversial American writers of the 20th century. After killing his wife in a bizarre shooting accident, he moved to Tangier where he lived in male brothel and wrote his celebrated bestseller Naked Lunch--in...

Thelife story of theliterary iconTime magazine called the"laureate of American low-life"

In this definitive biography celebratedBeathistorianBarry Miles turns his attention to the exploits ofthehard-drinking, belligerent wild man of literature. Having spoken with people close to Bukowski, he offers a full examination of Bukowski's extensive writings, which chronicled the seedy underside of the city in which he spent most of his life, Los Angeles. Miles discusses his influences and writing life. Bukowski's heroes were the panhandlers, hustlers, drunks, and hookers; his...

A new preface by the author updates this reissue of a seminal biography of the counter culture icon, by a luminary of the 1960s underground Allen Ginsberg occupies a significant and enduring position in American literature. Following Ginsberg's death in 1997, Barry Miles has drawn on both his long friendship with the poet and on Ginsberg's journals and correspondence to produce an immensely detailed and fascinating account of one of the 20th century's most extraordinary poets.