Jack Kerouac described the Beat Generation as “a swinging group of new American men, intent on joy.” “Beat Boys, Beat Girls” cuts back and forth between the present, with 30 year old Mort Livingston as he returns to live back home with his parents, indefinitely, after a failed career as a performance artist, and one year ago, when Mort was living in an old Hollywood apartment, trying to hone his craft in a world infested with models, drug dealers, strippers, drunks, and gold diggers. Topping Mort’s list of vast influences is Jack Kerouac, whose collection of scattered poems accompanies him wherever he goes, fitting safely inside his red faux fur coat. Mort’s new home is filled with chaos. His mother and father fight constantly, while his younger brother, Jake, gets brushed aside. Eventually, Mort finds hope and meaning in his new situation, but only after an overnight, drunken adventure with his father, who confides in Mort and reveals parts of his past that Mort probably doesn’t need to know. Their similarities overshadow their differences, and Mort begins to put the pieces of his life together. Although times have changed immensely, the core of the beat generation has remained consistent: we should live our lives simply and as intended, where work and play happen simultaneously.