Our lost history is revived in this legendary book, which was a bestseller in 1926 and has hovered at the edge of our memory ever since. The favorite book of William Burroughs, it is a journey into the hobo underworld, through freight hopping around the still-Wild West, becoming a highwayman and member of the yegg (criminal) brotherhood, getting hooked on opium, and doing stints in jail or escaping, often with the assistance of crooked cops or judges. The book includes an afterword by Michael Discend, who tells what became of Jack after the book was written (he gave up the outlaw life and moved to San Francisco).