美国作家杰克·凯鲁亚克(Jack Kerouac,1922—1967)与埃伦·金斯堡、威廉·巴勒斯等人是“垮掉的一代”(Beat Generation)的代表人物。他们所兴起的垮掉派运动轰动一时,成为美国历史上一个颇为著名的时代现象。“垮掉的一代”文学和爵士乐一样,是美国土生土长的文化现象,共同的时代背景使它们在精神上彼此相通。在凯鲁亚克不算长的一生中,他共计创作了18部小说和游记,如《在路上》(On the Road,1957)、《达摩流浪者》(The Dharma Bums, American writer Jack Kerouac (1922-1967) and Ellen Ginsburg, William Burroughs and others are the representatives of “Beat Generation.” The bursting movement they were emerging was a sensational moment in history, a rather well-known phenomenon in the history of the United States. The “Beat Generation” literature, like jazz, is a native of the United States and has a common cultural background that has made them mentally interconnected. In his short life, Kerouac created a total of 18 novels and travelogue such as On the Road (1957), The Dharma Bums