What makes a novel "cult"?: drink and drugs; sex and rock 'n' roll?; a window on subcultures?; the ability to tap into the zeitgeist? This book provides an insight into the cult canon assessing 250 authors who have pioneered experiments in style and content, from Kathy Acker and Nelson Algren via Burroughs and Bukowski to Tom Wolfe and Irvine Welsh. Each entry has an author biography, an assessment of their oeuvre, a "for" and "against", and a further and related reading list.