On the Road: The Original Scroll
Jack Kerouac's On the Road was written in three weeks, between April 2 and April 22, 1951; famously typed on a single roll (individual leaves of tracing paper spliced together with tape). There were no paragraph breaks, it was a single column of text that just went and went, like a road. The novel wasn't published until 1957, six years after it was written. Jack Kerouac, meanwhile, rewrote the story in a completely different, almost Joycean style (eventually published in 1972 as Visions of Cody), even as he helped its eventual publisher, Viking, rework the original draft extensively. This involved, outside of choosing the paragraph breaks, streamlining the story, avoiding libel suits by changing the names and identities of the characters, and avoiding obscenity charges by removing several of the more startling, and hilarious, scenes. Well, here's the big news: 56 years later, Viking has finally published, for the general public, On the Road: The Original Scroll. Was worth the wait' For me (I was born in 1958 and I've waited my whole life for this) it definitely was. What a kick! I laughed with Jack, I cried with Jack. Was Jack a great writer' Undeniably he was. There is now a trifecta of versions of On the Road: the novel as released in 1957, Visions of Cody and now The Original Scroll. Which one is the 'real' book' Which one is the 'best' one' You'll have to read them all before you can decide.