On the Road [Paperback]

Jack Kerouac (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

On The Road, the most famous of Jack Kerouac's works, is not only the soul of the Beat movement and literature, but one of the most important novels of the century. Like nearly all of Kerouac's writing, On The Road is thinly fictionalized autobiography, filled with a cast made of Kerouac's real life friends, lovers, and fellow travelers. Narrated by Sal Paradise, one of Kerouac's alter-egos, On the Road is a cross-country bohemian odyssey that not only influenced writing in the years since its 1957 publication but penetrated into the deepest levels of American thought and culture.

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Kerouac get the whole beautiful, groovy deal with this new recording of the radically hip novel that many consider the heart of the Beat movement. Poetic, open and raw, Kerouac's prose lays out a cross-country adventure as experienced by Sal Paradise, an autobiographical character. A writer holed up in a room at his aunt's house, Paradise gets inspired by Dean Moriarty (a character based on Kerouac's friend Neal Cassady) to hit the road and see America. From the moment he gets on the seven train out of New York City, he takes the reader through the highs and lows of hitchhiking, bonding with fellow explorers and opting for beer before food. First published in 1957, Kerouac's perennially hot story continues to express the restless energy and desire for freedom that makes people rush out to see the world. The tale is only improved by Dillon's well-paced, articulate reading as he voices the flow of images and graveled reality of Paradise's search for the edge.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Later Printing edition (December 28, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140042598
• ISBN-13: 978-0140042597
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (649 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #33,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

138 of 165 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The outlaw spirit seething underneath 1950's conformity, February 2, 2002

By	Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: On the Road (Paperback)

Published in 1957, this autobiographical novel by Jack Kerouac captured the spirit that was seething underneath 1950s conformity. Myth has it that he typed it non-stop for three weeks, using one long continuous sheet of paper. I understand it went through several drafts after that but it still holds the immediacy of that marathon typing session, the staccato rhythm of the words creating improvised rhythm across the page with little, if any punctuation.

The narrator, Sal Paradise, is on an epic quest, one that takes him back and forth across the country with Dean Moriarity who is based on the real-life Neal Cassady. Dean, the reform school escapee who specializes in stealing cars, is Sal's mentor. And it is the automobile that is their chariot, which keeps them constantly in motion. Dean's madness is glorified, as is his ability to do whatever he pleases. There are a lot of drugs in the book, but liquor seems to be their drug of choice. They leave the heroin for a character loosely based on the real William Burroughs. Women drift in and out of the story, usually as one of Dean's lovers who he treats terribly. Dean treats everyone terribly though, abandoning Sal on several occasions, once while Sal was suffering from dysentery while they were in Mexico. Sal, however, always forgives Dean, seeing him as a god-like hero, no matter what he does.

There's more to the book than the story though. The book is a trip, in every sense of the word. With the simple force of his writing, Kerouac took me on an adventure. With him I crisscrossed America, hitchhiking, walking, taking buses. With him I sat in a car driven by Dean Moriarity, speeding for hours at 110 miles an hour and not even thinking about a seatbelt. I met the pathetic women who loved Dean and didn't feel a bit sorry for them. I felt the quest in Dean's heart for his hobo father who he constantly searches for. And, I experienced the jazz, felt the heat and smelled the sweat in the many small bars, felt my head reel from the whisky and the sound all around me, stayed awake all night listening to sounds and being alone with the music in a room full of people. Yes, I felt I was there with the travelers, enjoying vicariously the thrills and the chills and knowing this would be my only entry into that world. Jack Kerouac eventually became an alcoholic and died an early death, but I'm personally grateful for this book he left behind and the experience of reading it. Highly recommended.

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go thou and be little beneath my sight, April 17, 2000

By	Raucous Rooster (Huntington Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Road (Paperback)

To appreciate this book you have to catch it at the right time in your life. I'm not talking age(though for most it's around eighteen), I'm talking about the limbo between responsibility and childhood. The ether-peak where you can see the world in all it's glory but have yet to figure out how to touch it. Kerouac was quite capable of putting things down conventially, The Town and the City, but he decided to go out and "roll is bones". For that he deserves more credit than he got. This book is great in its portrayal of The Beats' years before the maelstrom of fame hit them. It is the perfect romantic youth handbook.

Read it before you take that summer off before college.

Read it again before you go to Europe after college.(While you're in France read Henry Miller.)

Read it, learn it, then throw it away and forget about it and live with a razor on your tongue and roman candles on your heels.

P.S. The title and the "roll your bones" line are from a reading Kerouac did on the Tonight Show of the last page of THE book, with some improv thrown in. Much better than just ink and paper. Check it out in the box set.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I used to hate America...., June 25, 2001

By	"gwynyfar" - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Road (Paperback)

Well...perhaps I didn't HATE America. It's the land of the free, home of the brave, and of course, MY home. However, before I read this book, I had very little interest in travelling around my own country. I thought that we were a horribly plastic and boring culture. However, this book (though over half-a-century old) reminded me that America is made up of PEOPLE. All people have stories to tell, and Jack Kerouac makes that very clear and vibrant. I just wanted to jump in my car and race across the country after reading this book. I suddenly realized that were sights to see, things to do, a wonderful world out there that I was missing out on. Kerouac writes with an amazing amount of energy and speed, bringing the reader into the craziness that is "On the Road". What is even more wonderful is that Kerouac based this book on his own experiences. That means that in some sense this all has happened, and yes, in some sense, could happen again. I know of plenty of cross-country trips that Kerouac has inspired within my own little circle of friends and acquaintances. See what he does with your life!