“Big Sur” is one of the most piercing and bleak texts by Jack Kerouac, shattering the romantic myth of the “king of the Beatniks.” This is a story about the price of fame and the urge to escape: after the success of the novels “On the Road” and “The Dharma Bums,” the main character, Jack Duluoz, finds himself trapped by his own notoriety.
Endless calls, telegrams, unwelcome guests, and endless binges pull him into the abyss of an existential crisis, alcoholism, and spiritual exhaustion. In despair, he grasps at a chance to find peace—the offer from an old friend to hide away in a secluded cabin on the picturesque coast of Big Sur (California), among the forests and to the sound of the surf.