The irony of the Beats is that while they may have turned lots of westerners onto Buddhism, they misinterpreted it terribly. When I was studying comparative religion as an undergrad I asked my professor of Japanese and Chinese religions if there were any American Buddhists that Chinese or Japanese buddhists viewed as detrimental to Buddhism and the western interpretation of Buddhism. She replied that there was only one, Alan Watts. He was largely disliked in Chinese and Japanese buddhist circles because he so completely misunderstood basic concepts and talked to eloquently about them.

I later went to study in India for a semester where I had more exposure to many of the words that American buddhists such as Watts, or Kerouac throw around. I've seriously studied Buddhism in both American and Indian universities, and read books written by Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Tibetan, Korean, and Nepalese buddhists. I'm not a buddhist, but I can say with certainty that the Beats really didn't understand buddhism. Instead I view them as coming from a western tradition of capitalizing on oriental concepts by introducing them to an ignorant western audience. I doubt they did this intentionally, and it's not like I hold some kind of grudge against Kerouac for getting so much wrong. And in a way, good on them for introducing so many westerners to buddhism.

If you are interested in Buddhism and your interest came from reading Beat literature, I highly suggest you seek out a teacher that does not draw their teaching from Beat sources, or anything that can be traced back to Alan Watts. Look for institutions that have been around for a while and that try to demystify complex concepts.