Lonesome Traveler

Aug 2, 2025 3:26 AM

Author:Jack Kerouac

Lonesome Traveler

A timeless travelogue from the leading light of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac's Lonesome Traveller is a jubilant celebration of human discovery, published in Penguin Modern Classics.

As he roams the US, Mexico, Morocco, Paris and London, Kerouac records, in prose of pure poetry, life on the road. Standing on the engine of a train as it rushes past fields of prickly cactus; witnessing his first bullfight in Mexico while high on opium; catching up with the beat nightlife in New York; burying himself in the snow-capped mountains of north-west America; meditating on a sunlit roof in Tangiers; or falling in love with Montmartre and the huge white basilica of Sacré-Coeur - Kerouac reveals both the endless diversity of human life and his own high-spirited philosophy of self-fulfilment.

'Piquant writing, the best part of its flavour being ... the hunt for the big experience, a touch of Hemingway and Whitman'

Guardian

'Full of startling and beautiful things ... one sees, hears and feels'

Sunday Times

Reviews

The plotting is complex, astonishing and perfect. It brims with good nature and generosity of spirit...it's full of jokes, suspense, cliffhangers, narrative reversals and pathos'

—— Jonathan Coe , Time Out

I think the Oedipus Tyrannus, The Alchemist, and Tom Jones, the three most perfect plots ever planned. And how charming, how wholesome, Fielding always is! To take him up after Richardson, is like emerging from a sick room heated by stoves, into an open lawn, on a breezy day in May

—— Samuel Taylor Coleridge

An exquisite picture of human manners

—— Edward Gibbon, author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

I am shocked to hear you quote from so vicious a book. I am sorry to hear you have read it: a confession which no modest lady should ever make

—— Samuel Johnson talking about Tom Jones

A deft and brilliant exploration of guilt, family and the rippling repercussions of a single moment in life

—— Red

A superb achievement

—— New York Times

A magnificent novel

—— Independent

The best thing he has ever written

—— Observer

McEwan's best novel so far, his masterpiece

—— Evening Standard

Subtle as well as powerful, adeptly encompassing comedy as well as atrocity, Atonement is a richly intricate book... A superb achievement

—— Sunday Times

An evocative depiction of the dangers of innocence and ignorance in the face of uncomfortable reality.

—— Herald

Brilliantly explores the currents of guilt, shame and anger... Utterly satisfying, complete

—— Scotsman

A complex, thought-provoking novel.

—— Fanny Blake , Woman and Home

Smoulders with slow-burning menace

—— The Times

Just brilliant, particularly for the clever, poignant final chapter. I loved the shattering, satisfying twist

—— Tasmina Perry , Red

I love being transported to a different era and this masterly novel succeeds at every level

—— Stephanie Beacham , Daily Express

This is a rare creature - a heartbreaker with genuine heart. Wonderful

—— Herald

One of the great unrequited love stories

—— Eve Magazine

An astonishing narrative... a novel that stick with you long after you finish it

—— Rich Clarke , Week

Simply stunning from beginning to end, this tense, evocative, beautifully-drawn novel transported me back to the 1930s and 40s, swept me away - and broke my heart too.

—— .

A magnificient novel

—— Independent

Previous Article：A Dog's Heart Next Article：A Mere Interlude

Comments

Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.