Lonesome Traveler

Lonesome Traveller

First edition
Author	Jack Kerouac
Illustrator	Larry Rivers
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	McGraw Hill
Publication date	1960
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	184
OCLC	20673830

Lonesome Traveler is a collection of short stories and sketches by American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac, published in 1960. It is a compilation of Kerouac's journal entries about traveling the United States, Mexico, Morocco, the United Kingdom and France, and covers similar issues to his novels, such as relationships, various jobs, and the nature of his life on the road. Some of the stories originally appeared as magazine articles.

Details

The collection includes some of Kerouac's best writing in his spontaneous prose style. This is particularly evident in "Mexico Fellaheen" and "The Railroad Earth" (also known as "October in the Railroad Earth") which, added to his travel journal entries, produce a loose but effective collection.

"Alone on a Mountaintop" recounts Kerouac's three-month stay on Desolation Peak as a lone fire lookout, which is also described (although somewhat differently) in The Dharma Bums and Desolation Angels.

The book begins with Kerouac's answers to a publisher's questionnaire, about his life and work.

Stories included

• "Piers of a Homeless Night"
• "Mexico Fellaheen"
• "The Railroad Earth"
• "Slobs of the Kitchen Sea"
• "New York Scenes"
• "Alone on a Mountaintop"
• "Big Trip to Europe"
• "The Vanishing American Hobo"