On the Road is a novel by
American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by
Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work based on the
spontaneous cross-country adventures of Kerouac and his friends during
the middle of the 20th century. It is often considered a defining work
of the postwar Beat Generation that was inspired by jazz, poetry, and
drug experiences. While many of the names and details of Kerouac's
experiences are changed for the novel, hundreds of references in On the
Road have real-world counterparts.
When the book was originally
released, The New York Times hailed it as "the most beautifully
executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet made by the
generation Kerouac himself named years ago as "beat," and whose
principal avatar he is." In 1998, the Modern Library ranked On the Road
55th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th
century. The novel was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best
English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.
