 "The Town and the City" was published in 1950 under the name "John Kerouac" and, though it earned him a few respectable reviews, the book sold poorly.Heavily influenced by Kerouac's reading of Thomas Wolfe, it reflects on the generational epic formula and the contrasts of small town life versus the multi-dimensional, and larger life of the city.The book was heavily edited by Robert Giroux, with around 400 pages taken out.