I read "On the Road" maybe in 1959. It changed my life, just as it changed the lives of everyone else. Bob Dylan. Sal Paradise, a young innocent, joins his hero, the mystical traveler Dean Moriarty, on a breathtaking, exuberant journey across the United States. Their hedonistic quest for liberation or fulfillment through drinking, sex, drugs, and jazz becomes an exploration of personal freedom, a test of the boundaries of the American Dream. A brilliant blend of fiction and autobiography, Jack Kerouac's captivating novel resonates with the rhythm of the American underground of the 1950s and races toward the sunset with unforgettable exuberance, poignancy, and autobiographical passion. One of the most influential and important novels of the 20th century, this is the book that brought the Beat Generation to life and remains the bible of this literary movement to this day.