From AudioFile
The classic memoir of the Beat Generation chronicles Kerouac's years traveling the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Hitchhiking, jumping trains, riding buses, and picking up friends along the way, the author roams from one end of the United States to the other. Matt Dillon captures the disconnectedness of Kerouac's life on the road, at times punctuating each word, at others mumbling through entire paragraphs. Dillon's portrayal of Dean Moriarty creates a living person: annoying, complex, and full of self-serving malarkey. Others moving in and out of Kerouac's life receive thoughtful attention, whether they're Latino lovers or redneck policemen. Dillon's performance brings a refreshing interpretation to a classic, all the more remarkable given his distance in years from the culture Baby Boomers remember. R.P.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Book Description

On the Road chronicles Jack Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent with his friend Neal Cassady, "a sideburned hero of the snowy West." As "Sal Paradise" and "Dean Moriarty", the two roam the country in a quest for self-knowledge and experience. Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz combine to make On the Road an inspirational work of lasting importance.

About the Author
Jack Kerouac's (1922-1969) On the Road was published in 1957, six years after its completion. It went on to become a bestseller and is considered the quintessential statement of the 1950's literary movement known as the Beat Generation. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Kerouac did stints at Columbia University, in the Navy and in the Merchant Marine before meeting Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Neal Cassady, who would influence the rest of his life and his writing. Kerouac died in St. Petersburg, Florida at the age of forty-seven.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jack Kerouac's classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be "Beat" and has inspired every generation since its initial publication more than forty years ago.

Introduction by Ann Charters