On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac

Considered as the Bible of the Beat Generation, On the Road was one of the most popular books during the late 1950's. One of the most amazing things about it was its ability to transcend demographics and appeal to more than just the "beats" and the non-conformists. The beats view this book as more than just an inspirational text, but rather, an informative and inspirational document containing ideals and the journeys come forth from those ideals while being both educational and entertaining. When it was first published, it was considered slanderous and profane, but if The Picture of Dorian Gray and the interpretations of Oscar Wilde have taught us anything, there is no such thing as an immoral book, and this book is most assuredly well-written.

On the Road was written in the mid-1950's by Jack Kerouac. When it was published, it immediately became a hit. In an age of conformity and white picket fences, people could hardly believe the stories transcribed by Kerouac in his catalogue of the cross-country travels he made during the early 1950's. Kerouac launched him sled across the country, traveling as a hitchhiker from New York City to Denver to San Francisco and back, compelling himself to experience everything possible from women to drugs to freedom to nature. Kerouac strived to be educated in the realm of experience and sought to achieve this goal by any means necessary. 

On the Road is the first and most definitive novel to be product of the Beat Movement. It contains not only the breadth of their lifestyle but the depth of their ideals. Kerouac uses his infamous trip to bring to light the motivations and inclinations of the Beat Movement and it's counterparts. The cross-country search for freedom is the epitome of what the Beat Movement stands for, and it is so eloquently captured by Jack Kerouac in his novel. This book is the perfect book for deciphering the mystery of the Beats. 

Side note- the benefit of having the original first draft is that all the names are accurate ( they were formerly removed because of the nature of the deeds attached to them) and the text is unadulterated and in its truest form.