I just finished reading it today. How come no one told me it was this good? I'll admit, I do have a tendency to neglect well-known books because they can get so overhyped. But this one was everything I'd heard it was and more. The dust jacket on my copy quotes Bob Dylan, saying "It changed my life like it changed everyone else's" I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say reading this book was a life-changing event, but I definitely felt different somehow when I was done. Weird as it sounds, like now I know something deep down I hadn't before.

And I love the way Dean speaks. All frantic and fast and with unnecessarily big words. Pretty often after a good reading session, I'd find myself saying "absolutely must" and "furthermore" a lot when it wasn't called for.


Anyone else read this book? What were your thoughts on it?

I love there is so much audio of Kerouac reading his own work; I got The Collection and Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation, which I love utterly.

HamsterHuey said:

Oh, wow. That's exactly what I thought his voice would sound like.

Thanks for posting it.


[Edited 11/9/08 3:37am]

HamsterHuey said:

I want to read more of his stuff. Where would you recommend I go from here?

meow85 said:

Go get Big Sur.

HamsterHuey said:

This site is fun!

http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~g...peaks.html

HamsterHuey said:

I will. Thanks.