Following a day in the lives of a group of rugged off-duty railroad brakemen as they drink, bet on the horses and generally "shoot the shit", Beat Generation explores the philosophical and the spiritual, culminating in a memorable dialogue with a colourful bishop. Entertaining and exuberant, and conjuring up a thrilling, smoke-filled, atmospheric New York of bygone days, the play probes the American working-class psyche and tackles profound questions of religion, mortality and rebirth.
Written in 1957, but only recently rediscovered in manuscript form in a New Jersey warehouse, Beat Generation bears the hallmarks of vintage Kerouac: flowing, stream-of-consciousness language, orchestrated with a jazz-musician-like sense of adventure and rhythm.
