This book is an exploration of Jack Kerouac, the writer that a whole generation turned into their reluctant spokesman. Duval gives a voice to key figures from that movement: the poet Allen Ginsberg; Carolyn Cassadys wife and Kerouacs lover; Joyce Johnson, who was in a relationship with the writerwhen he became famous; Timothy Leary, the psychedelic guru of the sixties; Anne Waldman, beat poet; and Ken Kesey, a central figure of American counter-culture. Through their stories, we investigate the mysterious figure of Jack Kerouac, the man who wrote the most important novel of his generation to later fall into the depths of alcoholism and despair. The result is an authentic fresco of the beat generation.