Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The other side of the story, 12 Nov 2007
In Off the Road, Carolyn Cassady provides the reader with a new perspective on the Beat and Hippie movements. Her position is an interesting one--close enough to these movements to report on them in detail, but distanced enough psychologically to show them separate from the fervour often directed at them by their enthusiasts. In Cassady's memoir we see these men as human beings, rather than phenomena, or poster-children for a generation or literary movement. She also gives insight into the female experience within what is very much a male-dominated subculture.
The book is an absorbing read. The truth of these men's lives is every bit as entertaining as the fiction based upon it, if not more so simply because it actually happened. I enjoyed Off the Road immensely and would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in a more well-rounded knowledge of the Beat movement.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Book!, 31 Jul 2007
I knew nothing of the Beat Generation, Kerouac, or Neal Cassady before reading this book; however, it was truly an experience! A great story that is told from the perspective of Neal's wife and Kerouac's lover, Carolyn Cassady, who has managed to capture the reality of her situation in an endearing manner. I laughed with her, cried with her, and got angry at her life when she couldn't bring herself to do it. Reading this book I felt like I was one of the characters, truly involved in the story and what was going on. I recommend this to anyone who is a beat enthusiast, or those who have never heard of Beat before. If you like a great story, you'll love Off the Road.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Shedding new light and creating new characters, 7 April 2009
My curiosity was first peaked in "Off the Road" by, as I'm sure is often the case, my earlier reading of the works by the enigmatic Jack Kerouac and my consequent desire to learn more about not only him but the legendary Neal Cassidy that I had come to know under the pseudonym "Dean Moriarty" in "On the Road". I wasn't entirely taken with the dynamic pair, knowing the havoc they wreaked on the lives of others through their dangerous adventures across the country and other reckless behaviour, but at the same time there was a glamour to their style of life that kept me intrigued. A zest for life that was infectious. A second opinion seemed necessary.
It was not quite what I expected. I was interested in the story, but I was expecting perhaps something of a rant against the injustices Carolyn had to endure. Far from it. Carolyn is a strong writer in her own respect, chronicling her adventures and misadventures with the famous characters she lived with, loved, and was justly agonizingly torn over. The narrative of the tale flows with a beauty that kept me turning pages when I least expected it (you know, 2AM with work the next morning...) Carolyn produces unbelievable insight into all of the psychologies and actions of those around her, particularly considering how long ago all the events happened, backing these musings with later actions and a massive amount of correspondence between Neal, Jack, Allen, and herself. She gives the less glamorous side of the tales that Kerouac narrated in his books, balancing that allure of the freedom granted by the open road and the kicks of drugs, women, and danger the two men loved, with the depression they both faced, the internal struggles they had to cope with, and their ultimate self-destruction.
This book gives both an intriguing and engrossing tale in its own right, but also displays just how multi-faceted these famous figures of the beat generation were; that they were not strictly road-hardened, adventure seekers, but gentle, complex, loving, paranoid, and tragic all at the same time. On the road was just one of dozens of sides of the diamond that is the tale of these famous men and women.
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