On the Road is a quintessential novel of America and the Beat Generation. It chronicles Jack Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent with his friend Neal Cassady, a sideburned hero of the snowy West. As "Sal Paradise" and "Dean Moriarty," the two roam the country in a quest for self-knowledge and experience.

Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz combine to make On the Road an inspirational work of lasting importance. This classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be "Beat" and has inspired every generation since its initial publication.