1923-1969. US novelist, who named and
epitomized the beat generation of the 1950s.
His books, all autobiographical, include On
the Road 1957, Big Sur 1963, and Desolation
Angel 1965. On the Road, written in three
weeks in a formless, unpolished style, awoke
the nation to the attitudes of a group of
young people in pursuit of love, beauty, and
new experiences, who were contemptuous of
staid American values.