Author:Jack Kerouac

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is the exhilarating novel that defined the Beat Generation and is a 2012 major motion picture starring Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Riley, beautifully repackaged as part of the Penguin Essentials range.
'What's your road, man? - holyboy road, madman road, rainbow road, guppy road, any road. It's an anywhere road for anybody anyhow.'
Sal Paradise, young and innocent, joins the slightly crazed Dean Moriarty on a breathless, exuberant ride back and forth across the United States. Their hedonistic search for release or fulfilment through drink, sex, drugs and jazz becomes an exploration of personal freedom, a test of the limits of the American Dream.
A brilliant blend of fiction and autobiography, Jack Kerouac's exhilarating novel defined the new 'Beat' generation and became the bible of the counter culture.
'On the Road sold a trillion Levis and a million espresso machines, and also sent countless kids on the road. The alienation, the restlessness, the dissatisfaction were already there waiting when Kerouac pointed out the road' William Burroughs
'Pop writing at its best. It changed the way I saw the world, making me yearn for fresh experience' Hanif Kureishi, Independent on Sunday
Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1922. Educated by Jesuit brothers in Lowell, he decided to become a writer at age seventeen and developed his own writing style, which he called 'spontaneous prose'. He used this technique to record the life of the American 'traveler' and the experiences of the Beat Generation, most memorably in On the Road and also in The Subterraneans and The Dharma Bums. His other works include Big Sur, Desolation Angels, Lonesome Traveler, Visions of Gerard, Tristessa, and a book of poetry called Mexico City Blues. Jack Kerouac died in 1969.
Pop writing at its best. It changed the way I saw the world, making me yearn for fresh experience
—— Hanif Kureishi , Independent on SundayOn the Road sold a trillion Levis and a million espresso machines, and also sent countless kids on the road. The alienation, the restlessness, the dissatisfaction were already there waiting when Kerouac pointed out the road
—— William BurroughsAs well as being sometimes profoundly wise, these letters are often laugh-out-loud funny
—— Brian Lunch , Irish TimesThey delight in flashing the stiletto, these donnish types, and impossible to conceive would be a college in which no academic grown had a dagger sticking out of the back. It is precisely this kind of malice which constitutes a naughty proportion of the book's appeal
—— GuardianIronic, gossipy, witty, intermittently profound and always intensely human
—— Justin Cartwright , Sunday Telegraph, Books of the YearIn turns modern and folkloric, this is an ambitious and unique debut
—— Historial Novels ReviewPure delight to revel in ... rich and rare ... Anna Lawrence Petroni has a remarkable talent
—— Susan Hill , The LadyA rich, tightly woven web... Ruby's Spoon is a book of dark near-realism, a study of complex family relationships and secrets in a world as pained and impoverished as it is fanciful
—— Oxford TimesA heartbreakingly realistic account of social upheaval and family tragedy... A spellbinding first novel, distinguished by unforgettable storytelling
—— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)I'm going to stick my neck out and predict prize-winning nominations for this debut novelist's astonishing first book
—— Lesley McDowell , Sunday HeraldSpirited
—— Catherine Taylor , GuardianA wonderful coming-of-age tale...she twists gritty realism with folklore themes in a truly mesmerising prose
—— Good Book GuideJilly's descriptions of the glorious Cotswold countryside are some of the most lyrical ever written and her comedies of manners rival Nancy Mitford, if not Jane Austen
—— Daily MailAs plots go you can't get more charming than this
—— Daily ExpressThe narrative zips along, pierced with her characteristically brilliant ear for dialogue and empathy for human relationships of all kinds... You won't be able to put it down once you get going
—— Daily MailA rollicking fantasy
—— Horse and HoundI loved it
—— Rosie BoycottSit back and enjoy the ride as the queen of the bonkbuster, Jilly Cooper, delivers another fabulously entertaining saga
—— Good HousekeepingSharp, funny and touching
—— Times Literary SupplementThe Spoiler - set in the halcyon days before phone hacking - was one of the funniest and sharpest fleet street novels in years.
—— David Robson , Sunday Telegraph SevenMcAfee - herself a former journalist - evokes two distinct eras and styles of journalism, that of fearless frontline reportage and that of its successor: style-oriented, celebrity-obsessed features coverage... This is a pacy read that leaves little doubt in the reader's mind that one school of journalism deserves more mourning than the other
—— Alex Clark , GuardianMarvellous satire...the novel is cunningly plotted and satisfyingly nuanced
—— Independent on SundayIf the peek into the world of newspaper journalism afforded by the Leveson inquiry has you gasping for more, then this timely paperback release is perfect...a fiendishly funny (and frighteningly plausible) world of fiddled expenses and suspect tactics
—— ShortlistThoroughly enjoyable behind-the-scenes expose of an ambitious celebrity journalist's attempt to nail the scoop of her life
—— MetroThis is the paperback edition. The hardback appeared before the News Corporation bosses were dragged into the Commons. McAfee was either very prescient or close to the action, holding her fictional hacks to account for printing false stories gleaned from disreputable sources
—— Julia Fernandez , Time Out






