On the Road swings to the rhythms of 1950s undergroundAmerica, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs, with SalParadise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, theliving epitome of Beat. Now recognized as a modern classic, itsAmerican Dream is nearer that of Walt Whitman than ScottFitzgerald, and it goes racing towards the sunset withunforgettable exuberance, poignancy and autobiographicalpassion.