A satori, in Kerouac’s own words, is “the Japanese word for ‘sudden illumination,’ ‘sudden awakening,’ or simply ‘kick in the eye.’”
This is a story of philosophy, identity, and the powerful grip of travel, written by an iconic American author at the height of his fame, after spending ten days in France searching for his French heritage.
Was the satori handed to him by a taxi driver, a waiter, a monsieur with a dazzlingly beautiful secretary, or while feeling fearful in the foggy streets at 3:00 a.m.? Or was it when hearing a requiem by Mozart in an old church, seeing trees in the Tuileries Garden, or while walking on a bridge over the River Seine?
The author experienced all that and more, often spending time in seedy bars and caught up in all-night conversations, as revealed in this work that shows the range and versatility of Kerouac’s mature talent.
To Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, “my search for this name in France” results in, according to his own words, “the tale that’s told for no other reason but companionship, which is another (and my favorite) definition of literature.”
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“Kerouac’s largely autobiographical novel tracing his travels through France at age forty-three takes its name from a Japanese word for ‘sudden illumination.’ First published two years before the Beat writer’s death and newly reprinted, ‘this book’ll say,’ he tells his reader early on, ‘in effect, have pity on us all.’”
— New York Times
“A remarkable ear for the cadences of a phrase or sentence, a sense of how to register in words the sheer, sweet flow of things.”
— The Guardian (London), praise for the author“Kerouac is an uncanny archetype for a whole generation of Americans who trekked through the ’60s and ’70s.”
— New York Times, praise for the authorBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) was an American novelist and poet who influenced generations of writers. He is recognized for his style of spontaneous prose and for being a pioneer of the Beat Generation. His first novel appeared in 1950, but it was On the Road, published in 1957, that epitomized to the world what became known as the “Beat generation” and made Kerouac one of the best-known writers of his time. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, he attended local Catholic schools and then won a scholarship to Columbia University, where he first met Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs, other originators of the Beat movement.
Andrew Eiden, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, is an actor and voice artist. He has been acting since the age of four, working at regional theaters including La Mirada Theatre, the Glendale Center Theatre, and the Pasadena Playhouse. He has starred in dozens of national commercials, guest-spotted on numerous television shows, and has been a series regular on three programs: Discovery Channel’s Outward Bound, Disney Channel’s Movie Surfers, and most notably ABC’s Complete Savages