Atop an Underwood: Early Stories and Other Writings

Before Jack Kerouac expressed the spirit of a generation in his classic On the Road, he spent years figuring out how he wanted to live and, above all, learning how to write. Atop an Underwood brings together works that Kerouac wrote before he was twenty-two years old, including an excerpt from The Sea Is My Brother. These writings reveal what Kerouac was thinking, doing, and dreaming during his formative years and reflect his primary literary influences, including the source of his spontaneous prose style.

Uncovering a fascinating missing link in Kerouac's development as a writer, Atop an Underwood is essential reading for Kerouac fans, scholars, and critics alike.