The writers Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) and Len Deighton (1929-) were near contemporaries but otherwise would seem to have very little in common. Kerouac was a key figure in the Beat movement, celebrated for his stream of consciousness prose style in “On the Road” (1957) and other novels. Deighton is the bestselling author of well-crafted and carefully researched thrillers including “The IPCRESS File” ((1962) which was adapted into a successful 1965 film starring Michael Caine.
