I've been on a Beat generation kick lately. My latest read was Kerouac's On The Road (the original scroll version) and some of Ginsberg's poetry (not great). I figured I'd treat myself after a spell of dry political reading - Rousseau's The Social Contract was a slog, but it feels appropriate for the times, as did Mill's On Liberty. That being said, "treat" was the wrong word; "subject myself" was more fitting.
Frankly, the book sucks. Stream-of-consciousness ramblings and lamentations from a glorified hobo, basically. It's a passable travelogue (which is a genre I'm not big into), but suffers from a really narrow point of view. Lots of "product of the times" stuff - racism, sexism, drug abuse, and a hell of a lot of twentysomethings fucking high school girls. The plot is essentially: author goes different places, idolizes criminal behavior, mooches off society while endlessly criticizing it, acts like a dirtbag, namedrops constantly, and whines that he can't get his dick wet inside a teenager. The fact that a whole movement grew around these people is both perplexing and concerning, but also explains a lot of America.
I hope to have a better experience with my next read (Burroughs' Naked Lunch), but I'm not holding my breath.