bJack Kerouac's classic novel about friendship, the search for meaning, and the allure of nature pbFirst published in 1958, a year afteri On the Roadi put the Beat Generation on the map, iThe Dharma Bums istands as one of Jack Kerouac's most powerful and influential novels. The story focuses on two ebullient young Americans--mountaineer, poet, and Zen Buddhist Japhy Ryder, and Ray Smith, a zestful, innocent writer--whose quest for Truth leads them on a heroic odyssey, from marathon parties and poetry jam sessions in San Francisco's Bohemia to solitude and mountain climbing in the High Sierras.