I, too, read On the Road as a teenager. It was a sort of pilot light which I used to rationalize a road trip. It also showed me that life is messy and confusing and spiritual. It allowed me to think about my male friends with less machismo and more sentimentality. Knowing that Kerouac wrote it on one long roll of paper, I read it in that mindframe, that this was a rambling account of actual events. It inspired me to get up and just do whatever I wanted as long as no one got hurt.

I prefer The Dharma Bums, myself, to On the Road, simply because the character of Japhy Ryder is way more likeable and rich in spirituality. The kind of spiritual college life that allows wine...