We all jumped to the music and agreed. The purity of the road. The white line in the middle of the highway unrolled and hugged our left front tire as if glued to our groove.
- - Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 25th Anniversary Edition
One of the major books that defined the post-WWII Beat Generation turns 50. Viking commemorates the date today by issuing the original uncensored "scroll." While published in book form, Viking's "scroll" moniker is reference to the fact that Kerouac originally typed the manuscript on a long scroll of teletype paper.
Kerouac's original "roll" is about to go on display at the New York Public Library. The scroll was originally typed in 1951 in Manhattan, which means that it now is ironically coming home rather than going on the road.
UPDATE: speaking of unrolling, the medium itself howls "stream of consciousness":
UPDATE: Here is the August 19, 2007 NY Times book review on Thursday's published "scroll." The review says that the scroll was not teletype paper, but in a 1959 interview with Steve Allen, Kerouac refers to his preference for "teletype paper":
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