Off the Road: Twenty Years with Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg

By Carolyn Cassady

Book Overview

"Rich with gossip, historically significant photographs, intimate memories, unpublished letters." (The New York Times)

This memoir by the woman at the center of the Beat movement is "a great book as well as a wonderful autobiography." (The Washington Post Book World)

Written by the woman who loved them all--as wife of Cassady, lover of Kerouac, and friend of Ginsberg--this riveting and intimate memoir spans one of the most vital eras in twentieth-century literature and culture, including the explosive successes of Kerouac's On the Road and Ginsberg's Howl, the flowering of the Beat movement, and the social revolution of the 1960s.

Artist, writer, and designer Carolyn Cassady reveals a side of Neal Cassady rarely seen--that of husband and father, a man who craved respectability, yet could not resist the thrills of a wilder, and ultimately more destructive, lifestyle.

"To the familiar history of the Beat generation, Carolyn Cassady adds a proprietary chapter marked with newness, self-exposure, love and poignancy." (Publishers Weekly)

"A poignant recollection--truthful, coarse, and inviting--teeming with the spirit of the men who inspired and symbolized the dreams of a generation." (San Francisco Chronicle)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590201043
• ISBN13: 9781590201046
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

This is great book.

For anyone interested in the Beats you should definitely read this book. Incredible insight and background and perspective.

An Intriguing New Perspective on the Heroes of the Beat Generation

Engaging from the start, Carolyn Cassady's work is a poignant account of the adventurous men she loved and the women that they left behind. Though autobiographical and somewhat biographical, it reads like fiction. The content is irresistible, prompting readers to fervently turn pages. Fans of Kerouac's On the Road will enjoy seeking similarities in the parallel plot structures, alluded to by the novels' parallel titles. Though Kerouac's account and the beginning of Cassady's work are essentially the same as far as plot is concerned, Cassady's sheds light on the previously unexplored mentalities of those who were, at times, excluded by the famous Beatniks. Hers is a new and intensely valuable perspective, which seems to complement (as well as contrast) Kerouac's own. Her novel is a celebration of the lives of these figures and dwells only fleetingly on their deaths. At the heart of their lives is an emphasis on spiritual connections and the relationships between human beings. Cassady's work is a thought-provoking specimen that's worth the reading of its relatively hefty total of 439 pages.

minute details in question....

The author paints a perfect picture of her life among these three men. However, why in the end did she say that Jack Kerouac died on October 31? Everthing else I have read says that the correct date is October 20. Regardless, I enjoyed the book.

A "beat" must!

Carolyn Cassady's Off the Road is just as essential to understanding the beat movement as any other book. She writes in a style that is very easy to relate to, and puts events in a never before seen perspective that enlightens the reader. She is honest and heartfelt in her recollections, and you feel as though you have really learned and gotten to know each of her characters. This book is really one of my favorites and one that I am sure I will read again and again.

This is a great book

I thought this was a really great book. I had read part of Kerouac's On the Road a couple times but hadn't gotten all the way through it. By chance I saw this book and decided to read it. It tells the story from a different side, a more rational and real side than in On the Road. It makes you realize that these people who were Beat heros were really just sad, real people who died young. Carolyn Cassady is a great storyteller. I highly recommend this book.

A view of the Beats as humans, not deities!!

A welcome slip through a portal into an age overshadowed by the sixties and into the lives of those who were unkowingly shaping an entire genre of literature. Carolyn's account reads honestly while balanced perfectly with letter excerpts to and from Neal, Jack and Allen. No other biography allows the reader into the lives of these characters so seamlessly, making for the most enjoyable peephole into the lives of the individuals' who were later to become known collectively as the Beat Generation. (If you saw the movie, fret not, the book is leaps and bounds better!)