On the Road by Jack Kerouac
This novel follows the story of a young man and his friend as they embark on a series of cross-country road trips across America during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The protagonist, driven by a desire for freedom and a quest for identity, encounters a series of eccentric characters and experiences the highs and lows of the Beat Generation. The narrative is a testament to the restlessness of youth and the allure of adventure, underscored by themes of jazz, poetry, and drug use.
The 39th greatest book of all time
- Published
- 1957
- Nationality
- American
- Type
- Fiction
- Pages
- 310
- Words
- 86,921
- Original Language
- English
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This book is on the following lists:
- 1st on Quintessential American Fiction, According to the Rest of the World (Literary Hub)
- 5th on The Ideal Library (Book)
- 14th on Waterstone's Books of the Century (LibraryThing)
- 15th on The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users (Culture Café)
- 19th on 100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 (Counterpunch)
- 23rd on Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century (themodernnovel.com)
- 31st on Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels (Radcliffe Publishing Course)
- 38th on 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction (Larry McCaffery)
- 48th on The Greatest Books of All Time (Reader's Digest)
- 55th on The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels (Modern Library)
- 67th on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century (Le Monde)
- 68th on The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List (The Observer)
- 71st on The 100 Greatest Novels (greatbooksguide.com)
- 80th on My Favourite Book - Australian Big Read (Australian Big Read)
- 87th on The Telegraph’s 100 Novels Everyone Should Read (Telegraph)
- 90th on The Big Read (BBC)
- 93rd on Big Read (Bulgarian) (Bulgaria)
- 94th on 100 Essential Books (Bravo! Magazine)
- 101st on The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time (The Novel 100)
- 115th on The Complete 500: OCLC (OCLC)
- 116th on Our Users' Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 100 Best Novels Written in English (The Guardian)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- The New York Public Library's Books of the Century (New York Public Library)
- 222 Best Books of All Time That Deserve a Spot on Your Bookshelf, With Picks from Bestselling Authors and Indie Booksellers (Parade)
- 50 Best Cult Books (Telegraph)
- The Best Classics (The Times)
- 50 Books to Read Before You Die (Barnes and Noble)
- A Century of Reading (Lithub)
- Select 100 (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
- The Graphic Canon (Book)
- The Great American Novels (The Atlantic)
- From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- Best Foreign Work of Fiction Chosen by Francophone Writers (French literary magazine Transfuge)
- Daily Telegraph's 100 Books of the Century, 1900-1999 (Daily Telegraph)
- The Modern Library: The Two Hundred Best Novels in English Since 1950 (The Modern Library (Book))
- Books That Shaped America (Library of Congress)
- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (The Guardian)
- 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.com (USA))
- 100 Most Influential Books of the Century (Boston Public Library)
- 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature (The Center for Fiction)
- TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels (TIME Magazine)