On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac. On The Road is based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across America. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use.
The idea for On The Road formed during the late 1940s; it was to be Kerouac's second novel. It underwent several drafts before Kerouac completed it in April 1951. It was first published by Viking Press in 1957.
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.
Read more about On The Road: Origins, Plot Summary, Major Themes, Language, Reception, Influence, The Scroll Exhibition, Film Adaptation