Sal Paradise, young and innocent, joins the slightly crazed Dean Moriarty on a breathless, exuberant ride around the United States. Their hedonistic drive for release through drink, sex, drugs and jazz becomes an exploration of personal freedom, a test of the limits of the American dream. A brilliant blend of fiction and autobiography, Jack Kerouac s exhilarating novel defined the new Beat generation. It had tremendous impact on both sides of the Atlantic and made him famous overnight. A p