Jack Kerouac manuscript unrolled at Columbia College

“I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” - Jack Kerouac, On the Road

The creation story behind Jack Kerouac's seminal On the Road is nearly as well-known as the actual novel; Kerouac typed the entirety of the novel on a single ream of tracing paper, not wanting to be slowed down by having to change sheets of paper. Fueled by coffee, cigarettes and some not-so-legal stimulants, Kerouac feverishly pounded out his epic in 20 days.

Long considered the holy grail of American literature, the 120-foot manuscript stands as a monument to Kerouac's prowess with prose and the Beat Generation he helped birth. It changed hands many times in the half-century of its existence, most recently to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay in 2001.

Much like Sal Paradise, the manuscript has been criscrossing the highways and byways of America for the past few years for exhibitions at museums, colleges and galleries. Part of it now nestles snugly in Columbia College's Center for Book and Paper Arts until Nov. 26 as the main attraction of an exhibit celebrating the Beat Generation. The 36 feet on display run from the book's opening lines to a section on Nebraska's Okie farmers.

“It means so much to anyone who cares about Kerouac,” said Greg Weiss, a gallery coordinator at Columbia. “The great thing is it’s so tactile and real. It truly embodies the book."

Related links:
Cover Story: Ben Gibbard on The Meaning of Life
Feature: The Road Giveth, The Road Taketh Away
YouTube: Kerouac scroll unrolled

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