The Dharma Bums cover art

The Dharma Bums

Penguin Modern Classics

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The Dharma Bums

By: Jack Kerouac, Ann Douglas
Narrated by: Ethan Hawke
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Jack Kerouac's classic novel about friendship, the search for meaning and the allure of nature.

A witty, moving philosophical novel, Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums is a journey of self-discovery through the lens of Zen Buddhist thought. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Ann Douglas.

Following the explosive energy of On the Road, the book that put the Beat Genration on the literary map - and Jack Kerouac on the best-seller list - comes The Dharma Bums, in which Kerouac charts the spiritual quest of a group of friends in search of Dharma, or truth. Ray Smith and his friend, Japhy, along with Morley the yodeller, head off into the high Sierras to seek the lesson of solitude and experience the Zen way of life. But in wildly Bohemian San Francisco, with its poetry jam sessions, marathon drinking bouts and experiments in 'yabyum', they find the ascetic route distinctly hard to follow.

©1958 Jack Kerouac (P)2021 Penguin Audio Classics Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Witty

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All stars
Most relevant  
wonderful narration, just as you imagine kerouac to have spoken himself. a story that takes you on an envious journey where life seemed simpler

ethan hawke carries you through a brilliant story

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I must write 15 words, what is there to say when all things start and end.

This is perfect.

Perfect

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Loved the purity of the story. Got to thank Ted for leading me to this path. Two stories one path. Nice.

Refreshingly deep

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It’s hard not to get swept up in Kerouac’s enthusiasm for everything. Ethan Hawkes reading is superb and perfect for Kerouac’s prose.

A gem

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I read this book as a twenty something whilst I was travelling and loved it then, but listening to this performance as a fifty something I was uplifted and transported by this tale of beatnik Buddhism.
Ethan Hawke is perfect as narrator and bought a new dimension to this work.
Loved it

Amazing

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Quite possibly more relevant today than when it was written. Ethan Hawke perfectly brings the tale to life.

A Life Lived with Passion

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