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The Dharma Bums

By: Jack Kerouac
Narrated by: Allen Ginsberg
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Publisher's summary

Two friends in 1950s San Francisco Bohemia explore Buddhism Zen - hipster style. On the road to finding Dharma, or truth, the story's narrator, Raymond Smith comes to a spiritual roadblock. Smith, based on Kerouac himself, discovers a role model in his friend Japhy Ryder, modeled after the real poet-Buddhist Gary Snyder. This autobiographical novel is one of Kerouac's most popular, and has served as an inspiration to the beat culture, hippies, and dharma seekers since the 1950s. This program is narrated by legendary poet Allen Ginsberg, a friend of Kerouac's and an early fan of his work.
Recording (P)1991 by Audio Literature; ©1958 by Jack Kerouac
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What listeners say about The Dharma Bums

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great book needs to be recorded by someone else.

The book is great and hearing Allen Ginsberg read it should be awesome but with all of Allen's talents, his voice and reading this at his age when he recorded this just does not match the manly bravado which was Jack Kerouac. It would be great to get a more representative voice that feels like Jack telling me his story.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I didnt know this was abridged when i purchased

I didnt know this was abridged when i purchased. Nothing in the item description says so. However Ginsberg is probably the best reader for this captivating and poetic story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

jack at his best

on the road part two. with lots of buddism in the mix, just enough humor to keep it from being boring. mind expanding beat litt at its finest.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book and narrator but bad sound-quality

The book in itself is definitely a 5-star book, and the narrator is perfect for it (he even sounds a bit tipsy, which suits this book perfectly), but the quality of the sound is pretty bad, at least it was so for me, which is why I give it 4 stars.

All in all, a good book for those who search for the meaning of life and an even greater book for those who have already found out that life's all about having fun.

(It is pretty hard to pay attention to the beginning of the book, where he presents the characters, but it is sort of essential so you really have to concentrate for the first 15 min.)

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

not a fan of the narrator.

I need to read this book I think to give it a proper rating. the narrator was hard to listen to, he reminded me of a carefree William Shatner, complete with emphasis in weird places.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Narration was hard

Great book but the narration was really hard to listen to. I wouldn’t listen to it again.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A true classic by a true master.

A true classic writen by a true literary master read by a great poet of the beat generation.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Don't buy abridged versions of novels.

This is just not the true Kerouac experience. You need the whole thing. It is a waste of money.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enlightened Tome.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this. The meditations; the deep introspection; and the lyrical creativity in stringing thoughts and words together to share this experience opened new pathways through my brain and jump started my mind to create memories for myself like these of self discovery.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mediocre recording quality

I enjoyed hearing Alan Ginsberg reading Jack Kerouac, but the recording quality wasn’t that great.

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