by Jack Kerouac (Author), Robert Thurman (Introduction) Paperback: 224 pages Publisher: Penguin Books (October 27, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 0143116010 ISBN-13: 978-0143116011 Jack Kerouac?s profound meditations on the Buddha?s life and religion In the mid-1950s, Jack Kerouac, a lifelong Catholic, became fascinated with Buddhism, an interest that had a significant impact on his ideas of spirituality and later found expression in such books as Mexico City Bluesand The Dharma Bums. Originally written in 1955 and now published for the first time in paperback, Wake Up is Kerouac?s retelling of the life of Prince Siddhartha Gotama, who as a young man abandoned his wealthy family and comfortable home for a lifelong search for enlightenment. Distilled from a wide variety of canonical scriptures, Wake Up serves as both a penetrating account of the Buddha?s life and a concise primer on the principal teachings of Buddhism.
