At lilac evening I walked with every muscle aching among the lights of 27th and Welton in the Denver colored section, wishing I were a Negro, feeling that the best the white world had offered was not enough ecstasy for me, not enough life, joy, kicks, darkness, music, not enough night.

The book was largely autobiographical and describes Kerouac's road-trip adventures across the United States and Mexico with Neal Cassady in the late-40s as well as his relationships with other Beat writers and friends. S. The school offers a BA in Writing and Literature MFAs in Writing & Poetics and Creative Writing and a summer writing program.

Jean-Louis "Jack" Kérouac (pron. : /ˈkɛruːæk/ or /ˈkɛrɵæk/; March 12 1922 – October 21 1969) was an American novelist and poet.