Austinist Preview: On The Road Marathon
"Somewhere along the line I knew there'd be girls, visions, everything; somewhere along the line the pearl would be handed to me."
- Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Part 1, Ch. 1
The Harry Ransom Center is not exactly known for its parties. No beverages, pens, or even white paper are allowed in their reading room. We have to give them credit for this event, however—-t's unorthodox, it's ambitious, it has just the right alchemy between '50's-era jazzbo "hipsters" and the modern-day sort, and it might end up being the most amazing literary event in Austin this year.
We'll be there, sitting back with a brew of one sort or another and letting Dean and Sal's travels wash over us like early springtime in Austin. If you haven't read On The Road, you probably can't be helped by this point. If you have, admit it, you're not gonna sit down and read it again. This event is the perfect excuse to relive that high-school wanderlust angst, or at least good background ambience to get your friends together and plan your next trip to a Mexico City brothel.
We also think it's pretty cool that all the readers are volunteers who signed up on the Ransom Center website. Who knows, if you have a Kerouac die-hard in your life, maybe you'll see him or her get up to read a few pages.
More info here.
