Jack Kerouac gave a voice to a whole generation in literature; during his short life he managed to write about 20 books of prose and poetry and became the most famous and controversial author of his time. Some branded him as a subverter of foundations, others considered him a classic of modern culture, but from his books all the beatniks and hipsters learned to write - to write not what you know, but what you see, firmly believing that the world itself will reveal its nature. It was the novel “On the Road” that brought Kerouac worldwide fame and became a classic of American literature. The first editor of this book liked to remember that he had never been given a stranger manuscript. Hefty as a lumberjack, Kerouac brought to the editorial office a roll of paper 147 meters long without a single punctuation mark. It was a story about the fate and pain of an entire generation, structured like a jazz improvisation. And the main character of the novel, a scoffer, a womanizer and a drunkard, Dean Moriarty, is still driving his rattling Mustang along a road that will never end. Each new generation found something of its own in the beatniks, but the peak of the revival of interest in Kerouac and Ginsberg and Burroughs occurred in the first decade of the 21st century. Several years ago, the manuscript of “On the Road” was auctioned for almost 2.5 million dollars, and now the novel has finally acquired a film embodiment. The book was also published under the title “On the Road.”