Write whatever's in your head, Ole Jackie might say. See, that's what the Beat generation was all about, and author-poet-extraordinaire Jack Kerouac led by example.

But hold up: what does "Beat"mean, anyway? This is the term that Kerouac and street hustler Herbert Huncke appropriated for their movement, and they used it because it had a whole host o' possible interpretations. The Beats were beaten down by the man and tired of modern society, but upbeat and beatific at the same time.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the man—not just the movement. In 1922, Kerouac was born in Massachusetts. His parents were French Canadian. He had an average American upbringing for those days, except he spoke more French than English for a while there.

He turned out to be a really good running back, which landed him a scholarship at Columbia. While there, he played a bunch of football, partied a lot, and made it clear to his professors that he didn't like being told what to do.

To the surprise of no one (except probably his parents), he ended up dropping out of college.

Dropping out gave him lots of time to work odd jobs and hang out with New York City street people… many of whom would later become famous. He was also obsessed with chilling in jazz clubs. His love of that musical tradition, as well as his disdain for the strict social codes of post-war America, inspired him to develop a new type of prose.

Dude was so, so tired of all the old literary traditions. And all of their boring rules. So he started writing improvisational prose. His work reads like a jazzier, darker, crazier form of the stream of consciousness works authored by modernist writers.

Plus, there would be no Easy Rider or Thelma and Louise without Kerouac's Beat scripture, On the Road. Really, Kerouac was the first person to publicize the tradition of the great American road trip.

He believed the best way to free yourself from the oppression of society was to get in a car and drive. Don't worry about where you're going. Just drive.

Kerouac believed in other ways of freeing yourself, too. Like drug use. And all kinds of sex, evading the law, sanctioning homosexuality, and searching madly for the ultimate spiritual release.

You might say Jack Kerouac was the Beats' Pied Piper. He led a group o' nutty guys on a journey—down the road and into themselves.

Sadly, his brief turn to Buddhism quickly gave way to alcoholism. That excessive drinkin' eventually led to his early death. But many of the effects of this spiritual experimentation can been seen in his novel The Dharma Bums and his biography of Siddhartha Gautama.

Phewf. We're tired just writing about all the things Kerouac did, and who he was to his peers. Guess we won't be taking any epic road trips anytime soon… unless you drive.

On The Road

This book follows the adventures of Kerouac and fellow Beat writer Neal Cassady. The two travelled together in an old car. Together, they explored the American West, and Kerouac turned that trip into experimental prose.

He taped long sheets of tracing paper together, forming a scroll 120 feet long, and then typed continuously for four days. Didn't he have to eat and go to the bathroom, you ask?

Well, yes. But we're told he lived on pea soup and coffee. And took really quick bathroom breaks. And when he was done, the whole novel ended up on that one, long piece of paper. It didn't have chapter breaks or page numbers.

But it was chock full of love and excitement.

The Dharma Bums

This time Kerouac's adventuring buddy is Gary Snyder, a true convert to Buddhism. Kerouac met the dude in San Francisco. And while Kerouac's still partying in this one—no strict life of asceticism for him—he now combines the wild life with a longing for inner peace.

You can hear the tenets of Buddhist philosophy all over his writing here. Oh, and this book gives us an account of the raucous public event that started it all, that Six Gallery reading with "Howl." How could you not want to dig into it?

Chew on This:

The Six Gallery Reading took place on a fateful day in October, 1955. The guest list was more than impressive. It included Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen, as well as William Carlos Williams, an old modernist. This was quite literally a passing of the torch. Luckily the lit-torch didn't get anywhere near Kerouac—he was too drunk to read. Dude would've taken that thing in his hands and lit his whole body on fire. Anyway, we were wondering: how did this event—most notable for Ginsberg's reading of "Howl"—help the Beat writers establish their own movement? Be specific.

A while after his wacky road trip comes to an end, Kerouac arrives at Buddhism. The religion has a profound effect on him. He ends up infusing many of its tenets into the musings of Ray Smith, his protagonist for The Dharma Bums. Clearly, this Ray guy is a version of Kerouac himself. Ray's buddy Japhy Ryder, who's based on Gary Snyder, is the character with the big mind. What's that? We're so glad you asked. It's a Buddhist concept that helps a person think less about the party and more about what happens when the party's over. Check out the critics of Kerouac's "Beat Zen" and think about how and why the Beat writers incorporated this far-out, Far East religion into their work.