Desolation Peak: Collected Writings

Written by Jack Kerouac

Narrated by Christian Rummel

In the summer of 1956, Jack Kerouac hitchhiked from Mill Valley, California, to the North Cascades to spend two months serving as a fire lookout for the US Forest Service. Taking only the Diamond Sutra for reading material, he intended to spend his time in deep contemplation and to achieve enlightenment.



Kerouac's experience on Desolation Peak forms the climax of his novel The Dharma Bums and has also been depicted in part 1 of Desolation Angels and a chapter in his nonfiction book Lonesome Traveler. None of these versions offers a full, true picture, however; and for that reason, Desolation Peak is essential listening.



The highlight of Desolation Peak is the journal he kept, starkly revealing the depth of his poverty, the extremity of his mood swings, and the ongoing arguments with himself over the future direction of his life, his writing, and faith. Along with the journal, he worked on a series of projects, including "Ozone Park," "The Martin Family," and "Desolation Adventure." Also included in this collection are "The Diamondcutter of Perfect Knowing," Kerouac's "transliteration" of the Diamond Sutra, his "Desolation Blues" and "Desolation Pops" poems, and assorted prose sketches and dreams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Nov 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781696610377

Jack Kerouac

<B>Jack Kerouac</B> was born in 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts. The best-known of his many works, <I>On the Road</I>, published in 1957, was an international bestseller. He died in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of forty-seven.

Reviews for Desolation Peak

[pitoucat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In 1956, at the age of 34, Jack Kerouac spent two summer months working as a fire-spotter on top of Desolation Peak in the North Cascade mountain range, Washington state. To occupy himself, Kerouac spent much time writing. He later wrote about his experience there, mainly in his novel "Desolation Angels," but this is the first time that Kerouac's writings on Desolation Peak have been published in full. The main item is the 180-page journal that Kerouac kept during that time, but also included in this collection are the beginnings of attempts at new parts of Kerouac's Duluoz Legend -- "Ozone Park," describing life after his exit from the Navy in 1943, and "The Martin Family," a planned sequel to his first-published novel "The Town and the City."
This outstanding collection also includes Kerouac's "Desolation Adventure" sketches, which later appeared in the first part of "Desolation Angels," as well as his "Desolation Blues" and "Desolation Pops" poems, assorted prose sketches and dreams, and "The Diamondcutter of Perfect Knowing," Kerouac's transliteration of the Diamond Sutra.
The collection has been carefully and expertly transcribed from Kerouac's handwritten pages by Charles Shuttleworth, who has added useful annotations and footnotes all of which help in the understanding of Kerouac's mental state during this critical period of his life. The final section of the book comprises thirty-two pages of photographs of actual notebook and manuscript pages, as well as some stunning views of the mountain scenery.
A most valuable and fascinating compilation of Kerouac's work, unreservedly recommended for the general reader as well as the Kerouac enthusiast. It's an auspicious start for the new publishing company, Rare Bird: Sal Paradise Press, which apparently has similar future Kerouac projects planned by Charles Shuttleworth, and that can only be good news.