Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha

"[Wake Up] contributes significantly to the fascinating picture of Kerouac's spirituality, revealing the depth of Kerouac's identification with the Buddha."--The Beat Review

"The long, streaming style makes the book majestic and something that you absorb in one sitting, like a symphony."--Robert A. F. Thurman, from the Introduction

In the mid-1950s, lifelong Catholic Jack Kerouac became fascinated with Buddhism, an interest that had a profound impact on his ideas of spirituality and later found expression in such works as Mexico City Blues and The Dharma Bums. Originally written in 1955, Wake Up is Kerouac's retelling of the life of Prince Siddhartha Gotama, who as a young man abandoned his wealthy family and comfortable home for a lifelong search for enlightenment.

Distilled from a wide variety of canonical scriptures, Wake Up serves as both a penetrating account of the Buddha's life and a concise primer on the principal teachings of Buddhism. This edition includes an insightful introduction by Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman addressing Kerouac's engagement with Buddhism in his work and his life.