Never before published in Kerouac's lifetime, Jack Kerouac'sWake Upis a clear and powerful study of the life and works of Siddartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, from the author ofOn the Road. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Robert Thurman.

Wake Uprecounts the story of Prince Siddhartha's royal upbringing and his father's wish to protect him from all human suffering, despite a prediction that he would become a great holy man in later life. Departing from his father's palace, Siddhartha adopts a homeless life, struggles with his meditations, and eventually finds Enlightenment. Written at the end of Kerouac's career, when he became increasingly interested in Buddhist teachings, and collected for the first time in one book, this fresh and accessible biography is both an important addition to Kerouac's work and a valuable introduction to the world of Buddhism itself.

Jack Kerouac (1922-69) was an American novelist, poet, artist and part of the Beat Generation. His first published novel,The Town and the City, appeared in 1950, but it wasOn the Road, published in 1957, that made Kerouac famous. Publication of his many other books followed, among themThe Subterraneans,Big Sur, andThe Dharma Bums. Kerouac died in Florida at the age of forty-seven.

If you enjoyedWake Up, you might like Kerouac'sThe Dharma Bums, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'[Kerouac] defines the attitudes of an entire generation'
Guardian