- Title: On the Road
- Author: Jack Kerouac
- Year Published: 1957 (The Viking Press)
- Year Purchased: Unknown
- Source: Unknown
- About: Do I really have to go into this? Sal, Dean, Marylou. You know the drill, right? In case you don’t, I’ll dedicate a few disjointed sentences to your enlightenment: Although not his best book, ‘On the Road’ is certainly Kerouac’s main claim to notoriety and immortality. It is a great gateway to his other work. Hell, even poor Kerouac is better than most and this is very, very far from being his worst. You’ll meet some of his Beat Generation friends on the pages. Since it captures a state-of-mind that most young Americans experience to one degree or another, it is a must read: exhilarating, chaotic, life affirming. If you haven’t read it yet, and want to, do so before the film is released. Please.
- Motivation: I think most teenagers go through a Beat phase. This novel is usually the first thing they read. I was a little different-I devoured a few random biographies before taking the ritual plunge with ‘On the Road’. However, I didn’t truly appreciate any of it until a second go-round with the whole gang in my late twenties.
- Times Read: 2-3
- Random Excerpt/Page 180: “At dusk I walked. I felt like a speck on the surface of the sad red earth. I passed the Windsor Hotel, where Dean Moriarty had lived with his father in the depression thirties, and as of yore I looked everywhere for the sad and fabled tinsmith of my mind. Either you find someone who looks like your father in places like Montana or you look for a friend’s father where he is no more.”
- Happiness Scale: 8
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A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea.
Not just a blog, a philosophy
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 
I love these book reviews! My husband recently read On the Road, and really liked it.
I need to tell Charlie (one of the other “blind wives”) to check out your blog. I thought I read a lot, until I met her. ;D
I don’t know if you saw it on the blog, but Charlie’s husband put a Jasper Fforde quote on the wall as a Christmas gift to her. It says, “Take no heed of her… She reads A LOT of books.” It’s very cool.
I have a feeling I’ll be here for a while reading reviews. What a cool project! I like the “Happiness Scale”.
Daniél
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That’s a fabulous quote! It sounds like something my husband would say. After 5 years together, he finally admitted defeat this past Christmas and actually bought me not one, but two books. Prior to that he always said that I owned too many books and was always scheming ways to get me to part with some of them.
My ‘A Year in Books’ for Project 366 is definitely not my normal way of reviewing books but I am having a lot of fun doing it! Thanks for the kind words.
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