Published in 1957, Jack Kerouac's On The Road is a sprawling coming of age story that also serves as a snapshot of cultural America in the middle of the 20th Century. Described by The New York Times as "the most beautifully executed, clearest and most important utterance yet made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as  'beat'", it was wildly popular among the nation's youth, capturing as it did the sense of possibility evoked by a world of open roads and shifting morals.

A largely autobiographical work, the novel tells the story of Sal Paradise (a fictional substitute for Kerouac), a wannabe writer who strikes out in search of adventure with his feckless new friend, Dean Moriarty. Together, the two of them travel across America between 1947 and 1950, encountering many significant cultural figures on their way. Whilst particularly of its era, the book's themes of friendship and self discovery are timeless, which might explain why the desire to make a film adaptation has burned so bright for so long...