The Dharma Bums cover

This is an article about the novel by Jack Kerouac. For the band, see Dharma Bums.

The Dharma Bums is a 1958 novel by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. The semi-fictional accounts in the novel are based upon events that occurred years after On the Road. The main characters are the narrator Ray Smith, based on Kerouac, and Japhy Ryder, based on the poet, essayist and Buddhist Gary Snyder. The book largely concerns duality in Kerouac's life and ideals, examining the relationship that the outdoors, mountaineering, hiking and hitchhiking through the West with his "city life" of jazz clubs, poetry readings, and drunken parties. Image File history File links Dharma_bums. ... Image File history File links Dharma_bums. ... The Dharma Bums were a garage band in the best traditions of the MC5 and early 80s college-rock bands such as Rain Parade and R.E.M. Band members included Jeremy Wilson (vocals), John Moen (drums/vocals), Eric Lovre (guitar/vocals) and Jim Talstra (bass). ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The term beat generation was introduced by Jack Kerouac in approximately 1948 to describe his social circle to the novelist John Clellon Holmes (who published an early novel about the beat generation, titled Go, in 1952, along with a manifesto of sorts in the New York Times Magazine: This is... Jack Kerouac (March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) was an American novelist, writer, poet, artist, and part of the Beat Generation. ... On the Road is a novel by Jack Kerouac, published by Viking Press in 1957. ... Young Gary Snyder, on one of his early book covers Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet (often associated with the Beat Generation); and an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist who is frequently described as the laureate of Deep Ecology — roles reflecting his immersion in both Buddhist...

One of the most important episodes in the book is of Smith, Ryder and Henry Morley (based on real-life friend John Montgomery) climbing Matterhorn Peak in California. The real-life episode was Kerouac's first introduction to this type of mountaineering and would serve as inspiration for him to spend the following summer as a fire lookout for the National Park Service on Desolation Peak in the North Cascade National Park in Washington state. Highlighting the aforementioned duality of the novel, one of the other most important episodes in the novel is an account of the legendary 1955 Six Gallery reading, where Allen Ginsberg gave a debut presentation of his poem "Howl" and other authors such as Snyder himself, Kenneth Rexroth, Michael McClure, and Philip Whalen performed. A key to Kerouac's aliases for his friends is helpful in deciphering the rest of the characters. Matterhorn Peak is a mountain in the U.S. state of California. ... Official language(s) None Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 18th 184,824 km² 385 km 580 km 6. ... The Six Gallery reading (also known as Gallery Six reading or Six Angels on the Same Performance) was a poetry jamming, which occured in the Six Gallery of San Francisco on October 13, 1955. ... Allen Ginsberg in later life Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American Beat poet born in Newark, New Jersey. ... Howl and Other Poems was published in the fall of 1956 as number four in the Pocket Poets Series from City Lights Books Howl is a poem by Allen Ginsberg that was first performed in 1955 in the Six Gallery in San Francisco. ... Kenneth Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator and critical essayist. ... Michael McClure, an American poet and playwright, was born in Marysville, Kansas on (October 20, 1932). ... Philip Whalen (October 20, 1923 – June 26, 2002) was a poet and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and the Beat generation. ...

Ray Smith's story is driven by Japhy, whose penchant for the simple life and Zen Buddhism greatly influenced Kerouac as he began to mature on the eve of the wild and unpredicted success of On the Road. The action shifts between the wild, such as three-day parties and enactments of the Buddhist sexual rite of "Yab-Yum"ceremony, where he must orally stimulate at least 100 penises, to the sublime and peaceful imagery where Kerouac seeks a type of transcendence. The novel concludes with a change in narrative style, with Kerouac working alone as a fire lookout on Hozomeen Mountain's Desolation Peak, in the North Cascades National Park (see also Desolation Angels). These elements place The Dharma Bums at a critical junction foreshadowing the consciousness-probing works of several authors in the 1960s such as Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey. A woodblock print by Yoshitoshi, (Japan, 1887) depicting Bodhidharma the founder of Chinese Zen. ... Jack Kerouac (March 12, 1922 - October 21, 1969) was an American novelist, writer, poet, artist, and one of the most prominent members of the Beat Generation. ... On the Road is a novel by Jack Kerouac, published by Viking Press in 1957. ... A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found from Sarnath, near Varanasi. ... The Yab Yum is an exclusive brothel in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ... Wikimedia needs your help in its 21-day fund drive. ... Looking toward Magic Mountain from the Cascade Pass trail North Cascades National Park is a U.S. National Park located in Washington state. ... Desolation Angels, a 1965 novel by Jack Kerouac. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Timothy Francis Leary, Ph. ... Ken Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American author, best known for his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, and as a cultural icon whom some consider a link between the beat generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. ...

References

• 1958. The Dharma Bums, ISBN 0140042520