FILMS/
THE TRUE STORY OF THE WORLD: ON THE ROAD AT 50
Live & Onstage
SHOWTIMES
Mon, Apr 30 / 06:30 / Kabuki / TRUE30K
A half-century ago, in 1957, "crazy dumbsaint of the mind" Jack Kerouac published the book that was to crack open postwar American literature and society and become a blazing iconic beacon of the Beat Generation and a light that never goes out for playful, seeking dreamers everywhere, then and since. Three generations have dug the passionate jazzbo language of On the Road, stuffed a copy in a backpack and hit the highway in search of enlightenment. No other contemporary literary work can claim such an immediate and enduring impact. After five decades, it still sells up to 130,000 copies a year. As part of its own 50th anniversary celebration, SFIFF and Litquake pay homage to Kerouac’s golden book with a portmanteau program of readings, testimonials and images honoring Sal Paradise, Dean Moriarty, Carlo Marx, Ed Dunkel, the lost city of San Francisco and, of course, Kerouac himself, the "writer-director of Earthly movies Sponsored and Angeled in Heaven." Peter Coyote, Michael McClure and Diane DiPrima will take part in this cultural celebration, with more Beat Generation aficionados expected to join them.
—Graham Leggat
Total running time 90 min.