How Kerouac's on the Road Created a Generation of Half-Believers

The content in this short e-book is excerpted from The Road Trip
That Changed the World, by Mark Sayers. The book examines the influence of Jack
Kerouac on Western Culture and the Church from a Christian perspective.

We
live in a culture of the road-restless for adventure, glorifying experience, seeing
life as a journey. Dissatisfied with where we are, we are constantly on the move
to redefine our sense of home.

Why do we see the world like this? How did
we come to believe that our best chance of finding home is to be constantly moving?

Jack
Kerouac was one of America's original proponents of the culture of the road,
documenting his famous road trip across America in his classic work, On the Road. The
standards he set forth in that book have influenced Western culture and church
so much that we still read his book, echo his philosophies, and make movies
in the vein of his iconic road trip. (A movie adaptation of On the Road is
set to release winter 2012.)

In this twenty-minute read, Australian cultural commentator
Mark Sayers examines how Kerouac's influence has shaped Western traditions,
our cultural identity, and the church. By analyzing our culture of the road and
its influence on us, he leads us to understanding what it means to have a true sense
of home.