” The Dharma Bums” appeared just one year after the author`s explosive ” On The Road” had put the Beat Generation on the literary map & Kerouac on the best-seller list. The same expansiveness, humour & contagious zest for life that sparked the earlier novels sparks this one too, but through a more cohesive story. The books follow two young men engaged in a passionate search for dharma or truth. Their major adventure is the pursuit of the Zen way, which takes them climbing into the high sierras to seek the lesson of solitude.