Ray Smith, a mid-thirties East Coast beat writer gaining national attention, travels to Berkeley, California and lives with Alvah Goldbook, an East Coast beat poet at the beginning of his career. Ray meets the younger Japhy Ryder, a student of Zen Buddhism and outdoors enthusiast. Ray and Japhy forge a strong friendship based on mutual experiences and a shared love for Buddhist philosophy, poetry and the simple life.
The two men, joined by Henry Morley, an eccentric librarian, go on a mountain climbing adventure. While the experienced hiker Japhy easily reaches the summit, the neophyte climber Ray clings to a ledge a hundred feet from the summit, too terrified to move. The two then return to Berkeley and have several experiences, supported by a wide circle of friends, sharing everything from ideas to girlfriends.
Ray returns to his.....
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