Does Kerouac Matter Anymore?

The Guardian Unlimited tries to answer that. Written by Sean O'Hagan, the story highlights what On the Road meant then and what it means now. The novel, of course, is still being read but does it still resonate with today's consumer-driven, media-savvy youth?

Also, online, you can find David Gates writing about the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road for Newsweek and the original review of On the Road in The New York Times. Oh, don't forget he was a charismatic performer as well and was famously interviewed here by Steve Allen.

As for me, I read it in college and the line below, found early on in the novel, was enough to inspire me like nothing else could at the time and still, as I reread it this morning, makes me want to jump out of my cubicle and do something, anything, do it like it's the last best thing I'll ever do...

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..."