Pic—full name Pictorial Review Jackson—is a ten-year-old Black boy living in rural North Carolina with his grandfather in the 1940s. When Pic is forced to move in with his aunt after his grandfather’s passing, his older brother Slim appears to rescue him. Together, they hitch a ride to New York City, where Slim lives with his pregnant girlfriend, but the city’s poverty shocks young Pic. When Slim loses job after job, the brothers will pick up and head west, making their way to California across a country suffused with hardship, music, love, and danger. Kerouac’s last published novel, Pic is an endearing portrayal of brotherhood and the classic American road trip, seen through the adventurous eyes of a child.

Praise for Jack Kerouac:

“Each book by Kerouac is unique, a telepathic discord.”—Allen Ginsberg

“An outsider in America, Jack Kerouac was a true original.”—Ann Charters

“Kerouac’s work represents the most extensive experiment in language and literary form undertaken by an American writer of his generation.”—Ann Douglas