Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Autobiographical novels, such as
On the Road
(1957) and
The Dharma Bums
(1958), of American writer Jack Kerouac, originally Jean-Louis Kerouac, embody the values of the Beat Generation.
Career of Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac began in the 1940s but did not met with commercial success until 1957, when he wrote and published On the Road. The book, an American classic, defined the Beat Generation.
As his friend and contemporary, William S. Burroughs once wrote, "Kerouac opened a million coffee bars and sold a million pairs of Levis to both sexes. Woodstock rises from his pages."
“Ci sono troppe cose che mi piacciono e mi confondo e mi perdo a correre da una stella cadente all'altra fino allo sfinimento. (...) Non avevo niente da offrire a nessuno tranne la mia confusione.”
Jack Kerouac, On the Road
“Le uniche persone che esistono per me sono i pazzi, i pazzi di voglia di vivere, di parole, di salvezza, i pazzi del tutto e subito, quelli che non sbadigliano mai e non dicono mai banalità, ma bruciano, bruciano, bruciano come favolosi fuochi d'artificio.”
Jack Kerouac, On the Road
“Oh, smell the people! yelled Dean with his face out the window, sniffing. Ah, God! Life!”
Jack Kerouac, On the Road