18 books like Jack Kerouac

What to read after Jack Kerouac — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Go John Clellon Holmes · 1952 · ★ 4.0 · 311p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Go is a 1952 semi-autobiographical novel by John Clellon Holmes. (Holmes referred to the book as a roman à clef.) It is considered to be the first published novel depicting the Beat Generation. Set in New York, it concerns the lives of a collection of characters largely based on the friends Holmes used to hang around with in the 1940s and 1950s in Manhattan. An underworld of drug-fueled parties,… Shares: Beats, Beat generation, Authors

Factotum Charles Bukowski · 1975 · ★ 3.9 · 205p · ≈ 6h · Moderate One of Charles Bukowski's best, this beer-soaked, deliciously degenerate novel follows the wanderings of aspiring writer Henry Chinaski across World War II-era America. Deferred from military service, Chinaski travels from city to city, moving listlessly from one odd job to another, always needing money but never badly enough to keep a job. His day-to-day existence spirals into an endless litany… Shares: Beats, Beat generation

Mexico City blues Jack Kerouac · 1959 · ★ 3.7 · 244p · ≈ 8h · Moderate A series of poems deals with music, life, religion, literature, dreams and mortality. Shares: Beats, Beat generation

Big Sur Jack Kerouac · 1962 · ★ 3.8 · 210p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Big Sur is a novel written by Jack Kerouac, that was published in 1962. The books perspective is told from Kerouac's alter ego Jack Dulouz. The novel describes Kerouac's frustration that he has with his fame of being a writer, and how he goes to his friends cabin on Big Sur to get away from the madness of every day existence. The novel also describes Kerouac's mental state of being, and his… Shares: Beats, Beat generation

Presidents for Kids Presidents For Kids · 2025 TIME For Kids presents a complete overview of our nation's chief executives from George Washington to the newly elected 45th president!Did you know that James Monroe was the first president to appear without a wig in public? Or that George W. Bush appointed the first African-American secretary of state? Presidents of the United States invites the reader inside the White House to discover… Shares: United States, Biography & Memoir

Cheaper by the Dozen (Cheaper by the Dozen #1) Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. · 1948 · ★ 4.2 · 245p · ≈ 8h · Challenging A wonderful memoir of a large and wild family during the early part of the 20th century. The "progressive" parenting and lifestyle of the parents, the hilarious trials and tribulations of the children, and the many adventures through these very interesting decades provide an engrossing and endearing read. Shares: American Authors, United States, Biography & Memoir

Zombies don't forgive Rusty Fischer · 2013 · 321p · ≈ 10h · Moderate After Barracuda Bay's homecoming turned into a zombie armageddon, Maddy and her friends Dane and Stamp flee to Orlando, where they handle teenage love while trying to avoid being discovered as zombies. Shares: Teenagers, Zombies

Undying Love Mitsuru Hattori · 2014 · 208p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Undying Love is a limited comic book series created and written by Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman. The first issue was published in March 2011 by American company Image Comics. Shares: Teenagers, Zombies

Travels with Charley John Steinbeck · 1962 · ★ 4.1 · 290p · ≈ 9h · Moderate A quest across America, from the northernmost tip of Maine to California's Monterey Peninsula To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the tress, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years. With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives… Shares: American Authors, Authors, United States, Biography & Memoir

Sankarea Mitsuru Hattori · 2012 · 174p · ≈ 5h · Moderate "I ONLY LIKE ZOMBIE GIRLS." Since he was little, Chihiro has felt an unusual emotional connection to zombie movies. It's not that he feels bad for the survivors - instead he fantasizes about comforting the poor undead girls they slaughter! When his beloved pet passes away, he decides to brew up a resurrection potion in secret. But he's discovered by popular girl and local heiress Sanka Rea, whose… Shares: Teenagers, Zombies

Naked Lunch William S. Burroughs · 1959 · ★ 3.5 · 255p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Controversial and bizarre cult novel based on the author’s own experiences as a drug addict, first published in 1959. Formed as a series of inter-connected adventures set in locations as diverse as the U.S. Mexico and Morocco sees the protagonist, Burroughs’ alter-ego William Lee on the run from the police and always searching for his next fix. Burroughs once stated that the chapters can be read… Shares: Beat generation, Biography & Memoir

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott · 1889 · 422p · ≈ 14h · Challenging Excerpts from the author's diaries, written between the ages of eleven and thirteen, reveal her thoughts and feelings and her early poetic efforts. Shares: American Authors, Authors, Biography & Memoir

The Road Jack London · 1907 · ★ 3.9 · 129p · ≈ 4h · Challenging "The Road" is an autobiographical memoir presenting stories from the time that Jack London spent as a hobo in the late 19th century. Shares: American Authors, Authors, Biography & Memoir

Green Hills of Africa Ernest Hemingway · 1709 · ★ 3.5 · 294p · ≈ 9h · Demanding A 1930s African jungle safari as recorded in the journal of Ernest Hemingway describes the glory of the landscape while bringing to life the story of a land under threat of human incursion. Shares: American Authors, Authors, Biography & Memoir

Zombies Don't Cry Rusty Fischer · 2011 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Moi, Maddy, lycéenne sans histoire, je ne croyais pas aux coups de foudre. Du moins pas avant d’en avoir été moi-même victime, et à deux reprises – laissez-moi vous expliquer. La première fois, je venais de percuter Stamp, le nouveau, et, comme la majorité des filles de ce bahut, moi aussi je me suis mise à rêver de pouvoir un jour sortir avec lui. Ce qui a failli arriver… Mais notre rencard a… Shares: Teenagers, Zombies

A heartbreaking work of staggering genius Dave Eggers · 2000 · ★ 3.7 · 400p · ≈ 13h · Moderate From Wikipedia: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (ISBN 0-330-48455-9) is a memoir by Dave Eggers released in 2000. It chronicles his stewardship of younger brother Christopher "Toph" Eggers following the cancer-related deaths of his parents. The book was an enormous commercial and critical success, reaching number one on The New York Times bestseller list and being nominated as a… Shares: American Authors, Authors, Biography & Memoir

The Chronology of Water Lidia Yuknavitch · 2011 · ★ 4.2 · 296p · ≈ 9h · Moderate This is not your mother's memoir. In The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch expertly moves the reader through issues of gender, sexuality, violence, and the family from the point of view of a lifelong swimmer turned artist. In writing that explores the nature of memoir itself, her story traces the effect of extreme grief on a young woman's developing sexuality that some define as untraditional… Shares: American Authors, Authors, Biography & Memoir

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Gertrude Stein · 1933 · ★ 3.5 · 276p · ≈ 9h · Challenging "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas ... is not an autobiography by Alice Toklas, Stein's companion from 1907 to her death, but a funny, innovative memoir which pays unusual attention to the 'wives of geniuses' as well as the 'geniuses' themselves. It focuses on the Paris years, mythologizing the Stein-Toklas household and presenting Stein as the writing member of an international art movement… Shares: American Authors, Authors, Biography & Memoir

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