Vanity of Duluoz: An Adventurous Education, 1935-46

Originally subtitled "An Adventurous Education, 1935-1946", this book is a key volume in Kerouac's lifework, the series of autobiographical novels he referred to as The Legend of Duluoz. A wonderfully unassuming look back at the origins of his career--a prehistory of the Beat era, written from the perspective of the psychedelic '60s.