Big Sur and his account of the

and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller

and even the mayor's limousine

heart-pounding story of desperate wilderness survival

a young French aristocrat and ambitious civil servant

and other commodities

Big Sur and his account of theA poignant masterpiece of wrenching personal expression from the acclaimed author of On the Road "In many ways, particularly in the lyrical immediacy that is his distinctive glory, this is Kerouac's best book . . . certainly he has never displayed more 'gentle sweetness.'" San Francisco Chronicle Jack Kerouac's alter ego Jack Duluoz, overwhelmed by success and excess, gravitates back and forth between wild binges in San Francisco and an isolated cabin