On the road

"Robert Holton's new study, On The Road: Kerouac's Ragged American Journey, is one of the few to consider the cultural and literary impact of this iconic novel. Most previous studies have concentrated on the autobiographical nature of the work and undervalued the context from which it sprang and its impact on American culture. Rock and Roll artists like Bob Dylan and John Lennon were early Kerouac fans, and the Beat movement paved the way for subsequent youth movements like the hippies of the 1960s and the grunge kids of the 1990s. However, it may be because of this association with youth and rebellion that the novel has never made it into the official literary canon. But unlike other critics who dismiss it, Holton is not looking for answers to today's problems in this 1950s novel. Instead, in this close reading of the novel he seeks to explore the connections between this hugely influential work and the evolution of American culture in the postwar era and beyond."--BOOK JACKET.