Although he was born and raised in Massachusetts, Jack Kerouac's family was French-Canadian, a fact of which he was proud. Published in 1967, when Kerouac was at the height of his fame, this book tells the story of a ten-day visit to Paris and Brittany in search of his ancestors. On this hectic odyssey, fascinated by everything and everyone he met, from a faded French beauty in a Montparnasse gangster bar to one of his strange, foppish Breton namesakes, Kerouac experienced a feeling of transcendence, a "Satori", which was to the Beat generation the culmination of all experience.

2006-09-14 We'll always have Paris

Years after dipping into "On the Road" and not being that impressed, I decided to give Kerouac another go. After reading "Satori in Paris", I experienced my own Satori. Kerouac's free flowing prose and his adventures in Paris and Brittany are engaging and easy to get into. He's attempting to trace his French roots and in doing so, meets various colourful characters, via a beverage or two.

Satori means enlightenment or awakening and Kerouac discovers this feeling on his French mini-odyssey. A good introduction to the man and his work.