god i love the beats.  it's been a long, long time since i've read this book, and i'm certain it speaks differently to me now than it did as a teenager.  you have to let yourself slip into a trance with it, and allow kerouac to guide you along in his mad visions of america and the people who slide in and out of his life.  i'll read it again in another ten years and get something new out of it all over again.