Kerouac's gritty, moving take on the destruction of his own myth, as the King of the Beats approaches middle age! Unmistakably autobiographical, Big Sur, Kerouac's ninth novel, was written as the 'King of the Beats' was approaching middle-age and reflects his struggle to come to terms with his own myth. The magnificent and moving story of Jack Duluoz, a man blessed by great talent and cursed with an urge towards self-destruction, Big Sur is at once Kerouac's toughest and his most humane work.