"Lonesome Traveller" by Jack Kerouac (1959) is a semi-autobiographical short-story/travelogue collection that recounts the author's experiences on the road/sea/rail in the 1950s. Its serves as a great introduction to Keroauc with its 200 pages organised into sections far easier to digest than 'On The Road', although often more challenging if you are not open to his unique style.

In Keroauc's words; “..a collection of published and unpublished pieces connected together because they have a common theme: Traveling.” and “Its scope and purpose is simply poetry, or, natural description.”

There are 8-sections (I wont call them chapters) which follow the 'spontaneous prose' format covering snapshots of his travel through the United States, Mexico, North Africa, France and the United Kingdom. Usually taken from his journals, some content is covered elsewhere in his other books, the fire lookout and his trip to Europe specifically, but are no less interesting for it. Indeed, it offers a very unique look at his writing process from experience, recording and recounting.

Perhaps what comes through most strongly in the book is the sense of Keroauc as solitary figure (clues in the title). When contrasted against the more famous On The Road, Dharma Bums or Desolation Angels you can see the different sides of Keroauc; one the chronicler of crazy adventures in the company of his Beat friends, and the one portrayed here as independent, wandering seeker of himself. It has to be said that this is a maturing Keroauc by this point, published in 1960 he was dealing with pressure and a weight of expectation, his descent into cynicism and frustration occasionally comes across in tone in the later sections, if not the actual retelling of the experiences themselves.

Definitely worth reading for its insights into his experiences and the personal 'postcards' of the places he travels to. Caution advised for some of the language; its of its time. But if you don't enjoy a section, just skip ahead... he would have.

'All that hitchikin All that railroadin All that comin back to America'

4/5