The Fitter, Happier UnLibrarian's Blog of Young Adult Books

by Megan DeTour
LIBR 265-10 Materials for Young Adults
Spring 2009, Professor Wrenn-Estes
Master of Library & Information Science
San Jose State University, California

On the Road Jack Kerouac

On the Road Jack Kerouac

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Publish Date: December 1976
ISBN: 0140042598
Page #: 320pp
Reading Level: Adult
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Real Life (has been called Autobiographical Fiction)

Subjects: Beat Generation, Bohemian, Drugs, Freedom, Road Trip, Spirituality


Annotation:

The epitome of fifties cool. Jack Kerouac captures a jazz infused prose masterpiece. Redefining an era as well as a style and doing it all the while with a cigarette and a beer.

Summary:

The most famous of all of Jack Kerouac’s works, On The Road is the godfather of the Beat movement and Beat literature. A thinly veiled account of Kerouac’s life and encounters, “On the Road” is a poetic assembly of prose laid out across the roads and soul of America. Kerouac takes you on a trip of hitchhiking, exploration and the desire to be free and wandering, looking, searching.

Megan says:

On the Road is my favorite Jack Kerouac novel, and is considered the most famous out of all his works. Deemed autobiographical fiction, Jack uses an alter-ego Sal Paradise to write about his real life friends, lovers, and fellow travelers. This is a cross-country bohemian voyage that not only influenced writing but penetrated into the deepest levels of American thought and culture. A very dangerous and subversive book but highly recommended to older teens for literary style, inspiration, and history.

Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Jack Kerouac reads "On the Road"