The subterraneans

’The tender and achingly poetic account of a love affair’ Lester Bangs, Rolling StoneLeoPercepied, aspiring writer and self-styled freewheeling bum, gravitatesto the subterraneans, impoverished intellectuals who haunt the bars ofSan Francisco. One of them is Mardou Fox, beautiful and a little crazy,whose dark eyes, full of suffering and sweetness, find recognition inLeo. But, afraid of his growing involvement, Leo sets out to destroytheir love. Written in three days, The Subterraneans is, like all Kerouac’s work, closely related to his own life while encapsulating his great vision of America.