In his prolific correspondence, Jack Kerouac set down the raw material of the life that he would later transmute into his multi-volume Legend of Duluoz, he also refined the seemingly freewheeling and spontaneous prose style that became his trademark. The collection of letters in this volume were written between 1940, when Kerouac was a college freshman and 1956, immediately before he became a celebrity with the publication of On the Road. They offer insights into Kerouac's family life, friendships, travels, love affairs and literary apprenticeship.