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I would really like to give this book more stars, but the fact is, I probably would have liked it better if I had not read Tom Wolfes The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test first. It's difficult for me not to compare the two, as the earlier book is a central text of one youth subculture--the Beats, while the other is a central text of a later subculture--the hippies (in addition, Neal Cassady, the person on whom the character of Dean Moriarty in Kerouac's book is based, is a character in Wolfe's book as well). As it happens, I find it much easier to relate to the latter book as it describes events and employs cultural references to which I can much more readily relate. For instance, when Wolfe cites a Beatles song, I know with confidence what the song sounds like. However, when Kerouac writes about Ornette Coleman or Bird Parker, the reference does not resonate with me--I know very little about jazz.

In addition, although I recognize that Kerouac's improvisational approach to prose was a liberating technique in the fifties, in fact I find myself demanding more structure in fiction--not necessarily conventional structure, but some kind of structure that contributes to the meaning of the narrative.

This is not to say that I would not read it again. I probably will. However, I do not think that I get as much out of it as many others have gotten.