Big Sur
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Big Sur Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Jack Kerouac (Author), Aram Saroyan - foreword (Author), Ethan Hawke (Narrator),
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 62 ratings
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A poignant masterpiece of wrenching personal expression from the author of On the Road and The Dharma Bums.

In this 1962 novel, Kerouac's alter ego, Jack Duluoz, overwhelmed by success and excess, gravitates back and forth between wild binges in San Francisco and an isolated cabin on the California coast where he attempts to renew his spirit and clear his head of madness and alcohol. Only nature seems to restore him to a sense of balance. In the words of Allen Ginsberg, Big Sur "reveals consciousness in all its syntactic elaboration, detailing the luminous emptiness of his own paranoiac confusion".

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    6 hours and 40 minutes
  2. Author
    Jack Kerouac, see all
  3. Narrator
    Ethan Hawke
  4. Audible release date
    October 6, 2020
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Penguin Audio
  7. ASIN
    B086H4FDDD
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 6 hours and 40 minutes
Author Jack Kerouac, Aram Saroyan - foreword
Narrator Ethan Hawke
Audible.com Release Date October 06, 2020
Publisher Penguin Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B086H4FDDD
Best Sellers Rank #28,859 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#107 in Biographical Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#388 in Biographical Fiction (Books)
#604 in Classic Literature

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
62 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars The Beats in the early 1960s
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
The book recounts the events surrounding Kerouac's three brief sojourns to a cabin in Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, owned by Kerouac's friend and Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Provides an interesting perspective on the Beat experience during the 1960s from this iconic location. Recommended
6 people found this helpful
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Valerie
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad book
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2020
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My husband loved this book. Said it was sad.
One person found this helpful
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Biker
1.0 out of 5 stars unreadable
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2019
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Ramblings from a guy on drugs.
One person found this helpful
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Jeff Commissaris
5.0 out of 5 stars "Must read classic"
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2013
Kerouac's prose is like reading someone's unedited sub-concious thoughts. The way everything races through, yet is so provokingly descriptive brought me back to the California coast and tall redwood forests.

They say this is one of Kerouac's best pieces of work, and you should definitely read it.
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Graham Murphy
5.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as on the Road or Dharma bums but still good.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
Not as good as on the Road or Dharma bums but still good. It should appeal to drinkers and alcoholics especially.
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JC.
4.0 out of 5 stars Foremost beat generation writer.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2022
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Jack's sojourn into a cabin owned by a friend after writing On the Road. Life is taking its toll so he seeks some peace and time take stock of everything. Brilliant.
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Mark hall
1.0 out of 5 stars Poor spelling and Grammar in this version.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2020
Verified Purchase
The book is oversized with text not feeling the pages. Spelling and grammar is horrific, which spoiled my reading of this. Get the Penguin classic version.
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Valspar
1.0 out of 5 stars valspar
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2020
Verified Purchase
The author has a very troubled mind. Very mixed up mind.
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