cover image Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of 'On the Road’ (They’re Not What You Think)

Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of 'On the Road’ (They’re Not What You Think)

John Leland, . . Viking, $22.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-670-06325-3

Having immersed himself in Beat culture while writing Hip: A History , Leland, a New York Times reporter and former editor-in-chief of Details , makes a convincing case that Jack Kerouac’s most famous novel has endured for half a century because it’s “a book about how to live your life.” The lesson isn’t about impulsive self-gratification, as many readers believe, aided by Kerouac’s tendency to go vague in his most emotionally critical passages. Leland reminds us that narrator Sal Paradise was always looking to settle down into a conventional life, and Kerouac, Leland says, was generally of a conservative mindset. Framing On the Road as a spiritual quest, Leland deftly combines the biographical facts of Kerouac’s life with discussions of his literary antecedents in Melville and Goethe, as well as the inspiration he took from contemporary jazz, finding in bebop’s rhythms a new way to circle around a story’s themes. Section headings like “The 7 Habits of Highly Beat People” get a little silly, but Leland’s insights provide new layers of significance even for those familiar with the novel. (Aug. 20)