An On the Road for today's generation. The debut book from the nomadic Val Cale – a road book that tells his story of his search for himself as he travels round the world at the turn of the 21st century.

"Somewhere in the back of my mind I had half intended to do a postgraduate course after my Bullshit Artist degree but a French-Canadian named Jean-Louis Kerouac and an Irish pastry chef inadvertently changed all that."

Val Cale abuses his mind, body and soul as he travels round the world looking for the meaning of his life. This is a story about the battle between internal angels and demented demons; a magic carpet ride surfing on grass and pills, seas of booze and the enormous strength of the human soul.

"The mind is like a creamy pint of Guinness… The head is the engine that drives you through the day… the fuel however lies in the blackstuff, in the darkness, in the depths of the unexplored cave which is your subconscious mind… this is the story of my journey through the blackstuff. The Blackstuff takes you beyond the beach, deeper into the ocean of darkness that is the pint of stout in your head…"