On the Road

50th Anniversary Edition

By: Jack Kerouac

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Few novels have had as profound an impact on American culture as On the Road. Pulsating with the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, illicit drugs, and the mystery and promise of the open road, Kerouac’s classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be “beat” and has inspired generations of writers, musicians, artists, poets, and seekers who cite their discovery of the book as the event that “set them free”. Based on Kerouac’s adventures with Neal Cassady, On the Road tells the story of two friends whose four cross-country road trips are a quest for meaning and true experience. Written with a mixture of sad-eyed naïveté and wild abandon, and imbued with Kerouac’s love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz, 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. This edition commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the first publication of the novel in 1957 and will be a must-have for any literature lover.

©1955, 1957 John Sampas, Literary Representative, the Estate of Stella Sampas Kerouac (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Patton's reading Kerouac mesmerizing, monumental!

Will Patton's performance of these amazing words was the most amazing experience of this kind I've had in my life.

great

loved it, so much fun, an adventure of a life time, a great step into the past,

Excellent narration of a critical novel

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely recommend. Will Patton's performance keeps the novel moving at a fast pace.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sal - as a writer myself, I was able to connect with his personality easily.

Which character – as performed by Will Patton – was your favorite?

Dean - His amphetamine induced personality was animated perfectly by Will Patton

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

We all search for some crazy to keep us sane, on the road

Amazing performance by Will Patton!

Where does On the Road rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

A classic book, and one of the best I've listened to so far.

What did you like best about this story?

This story is full of life and love and mistakes and raw unfiltered expression.

Which character – as performed by Will Patton – was your favorite?

Dean Moriarty, hands down. The way Will Patton brings this character off the page and into life is absolute brilliance!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No way! And I mean that in a good way! This book is not only a fairly long one, but it is so crammed full of action and movement and experiences and sometimes even stream of thought like dialogue from the characters that it is best experienced in managed doses. I don't think I would've been able to really absorb and follow it if I tried to listen to it all at once, and the overload of experiences and excitement would likely be disorienting.

Any additional comments?

I've never read another book like this powerhouse from Kerouac. The story is filled with bouts of frenzy and excitement along with reflection and observation which the writing style captures perfectly. I really enjoyed the journey of a story, but what really stood out to me with this book is the incomparable performance of Will Patton, as I mentioned in the title of my review. The story was good, but Patton brought the story and the numerous characters to life in a way that is beyond impressive! This is hands down the best audio performance I've ever heard, and I simply cannot overstate this. If there were an Academy Award for audio performance, Will would nab it easy with this one because his thoughtful and beautiful renditions of a whole array of diverse characters is every bit as brilliant as the onscreen work of favorites like Denzel Washington or Tom Hanks.

An odd, quirky and enjoyable book

This is a coming of age/alienation book similar to The Catcher in the Rye or the movies Easy Rider or Rebel Without a Cause. Kerouac is credited with helping to start the beatnik generation and also is said to have influened the hippie movement. After listening this book I can see why. I liked the book but it seemed a bit too long. I enjoyed the narrator and thought he did a masterful job. He seemed to use a different "voice" for each character. He also seemed to capture the essence of each character as well and that came through in his narration. The characters in the book are quite amusing and just odd enough to be interesting. An easy listen.

I was excited to finally read this, BUT.......

I spent the 70's listening to music of the 60's, and more often than not, feeling like my generation had been ripped off. Or maybe that I'd been born 10-15 years too late.

I'd always heard about how important Kerouac's writing had been to so many people, especially this book, so I was really looking forward to reading it.

The good news: I really enjoyed Kerouac's writing. I understand this is the novelized version and I found his descriptions of the people and places during his travels to be exceptional.

Further, Will Patton's performance was nothing short of brilliant and it only serves to enhance Kerouac's words.

Having said that, this one LONNNNG story about his travels that even Kerouac referred to as pointless, and himself as running about from one falling star to the the next and I cannot disagree.

One of the best

Wonderful book. One of the best of all time. Such a lively and passionate fever dream of a bygone Era. A breakneck testimony of music, love, and the unbearable joy of living.

Great narrator for a great book!

Narrator was great and his character voices were fitting. I love how it sound like the characters came to life even in his breathing.
This is a very fast paced book and I will need a second listen to get the things I missed. It is very detailed also.
I loved every second listening. It has highs and lows perfectly balanced from start to end.
This is a must listen!

Utter chaos!

This story leaves one confused, breathless and not much smarter than you were when you started out with it!
The chaos it reaps is somewhat contagious and almost exhausting.
It is also somewhat familiar as we all may have had similar episodes in our lives. I for one, have had friends that are so exactly like Dean that it makes me feel nauseous and dumbfounded.
Not quite sure how I, or they, lived through it....

Loved it

The narrator Will Patton made this book come to life. It was like listening to a live theater performance rather than reading a book. I loved it.