On the Road: The Original Scroll (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

On the Road: The Original Scroll (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
by Jack Kerouac

On the Road: The Original Scroll (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Jack Kerouac
Introduction: Penny Vlagopoulos
Introduction: George Mouratidis
Introduction: Joshua Kupetz
Contributor: Howard Cunnell
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-26
ISBN: 0143105469
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Penguin Classics

Book Reviews of On the Road: The Original Scroll (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Book Review: Sal and Dean or Jack and Neal?
Summary: 5 Stars

I've read the published (Sal Paradise/Dean Moriarty) version of "On the Road" at least three times since the early 1970s, but I find that this original 1951 scroll transcription with no paragraph breaks, unexpurgated expletives, and the real names of Kerouac and Cassady and Ginsberg and Burroughs hits harder, moves faster, and is much more immediate in its impact than the traditionally-edited novel. But even though it predates the publication of the finished book by six years, most of my favorite, most memorable, lines and events were there in this first draft. It's a revelation.
The scroll version also brings up questions about the relative merits of memoirs vs. novels and fiction vs. non-fiction that seem very contemporary -- in the nineteen fifties it was more important to be a Novelist if one were to be taken seriously as a writer; you created a fictional universe, you disguised autobiographical names and events (at least nominally), and you would never be forced to appear on Oprah defending the veracity of every subjective recollection in your book.
If you've read the book in its traditional form, read it again in this "new" version (but if you're coming to this indispensible American classic for the first time, then I'd suggest starting with the published version with the well-known noms de route -- everyone should know Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty!)

Summary of On the Road: The Original Scroll (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

The legendary 1951 scroll draft of On the Road, published as Kerouac originally composed it

IN THREE WEEKS in April of 1951, Jack Kerouac wrote his first full draft of On the Road-typed as a single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper, which he later taped together to form a 120-foot scroll. A major literary event when it was published in Viking hardcover in 2007, this is the uncut version of an American classic-rougher, wilder, and more provocative than the official work that appeared, heavily edited, in 1957. This version, capturing a moment in creative history, represents the first full expression of Kerouac's revolutionary aesthetic.
The legendary 1951 scroll draft of On the Road, published word for word as Kerouac originally composed it

Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West Twentieth Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him. Typed out as one long, single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper that he later taped together to form a 120-foot scroll, this document is among the most significant, celebrated, and provocative artifacts in contemporary American literary history. It represents the first full expression of Kerouac's revolutionary aesthetic, the identifiable point at which his thematic vision and narrative voice came together in a sustained burst of creative energy. It was also part of a wider vital experimentation in the American literary, musical, and visual arts in the post-World War II period.

It was not until more than six years later, and several new drafts, that Viking published, in 1957, the novel known to us today. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of On the Road, Viking will publish the 1951 scroll in a standard book format. The differences between the two versions are principally ones of significant detail and altered emphasis. The scroll is slightly longer and has a heightened linguistic virtuosity and a more sexually frenetic tone. It also uses the real names of Kerouac's friends instead of the fictional names he later invented for them. The transcription of the scroll was done by Howard Cunnell who, along with Joshua Kupetz, George Mouratidis, and Penny Vlagopoulos, provides a critical introduction that explains the fascinating compositional and publication history of On the Road and anchors the text in its historical, political, and social context.

Celebrating 50 Years of On the Road
A 50th anniversary hardcover edition of Kerouac's classic novel that defined a generation. On the Road is the quintessential American vision of freedom and hope, a book that changed American literature and changed anyone who has ever picked it up.
Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of On the Road (They're Not What You Think): John Leland, author of Hip: A History argues that On the Road still matters not for its youthful rebellion but because it is full of lessons about how to grow up.


From the back cover of On the Road: The Original Scroll: Jack Kerouac displaying one of his later scroll manuscripts, most likely The Dharma Bums


Kerouac's map of his first hitchhiking trip, July-October 1947 (click image to see the full map)

Original New York Times review of On the Road (click image to see the full review)

Kerouac, Jack Books

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