January 11, 2012

On the Road

This just in: Okay, even though it’s months away, I just can’t keep myself from blogging about thebiz. It was recently announced that the On the Road movie will probably premiere at Cannes in May. Jack Kerouac and the Beats are definitely part of the reason I moved to San Francisco to become a writer (Anne Rice is another). The free-spirited joie de vivre they ignited has always inspired me creatively, as has the Beat habit of writing to the tempo of music. They were completely flowing prose.

Angel-headed hipsters is what Jack Kerouac called his musician, artist and writer friends and they started a lasting movement in the 50s and 60s. Their work went from being banned to required reading (btw, I was the first person to check out On the Road from my high school library). Eventually this became indie culture. It’s sometimes commercialized but publishing is a business like any other, one that’s being revolutionized in an exciting way just like the Beats did to their generation. Everyone break out your GPS-enabled eReaders and tablets and hit the road.

Which brings me to the leading ladies, two of my all-time favorite young women actors: Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst. Who inspires writers? Where do they look for inspiration for their stories? When are more women going to get credit for their stories? We can watch this real life movement about a feeling that was transformed into speed-writing as adrenaline-fueled as their lives and escapades (and find our own true muses at the same time).—Michelle Zaffino

p.s. Look for the In the Stacks.tv video book review of On the Road—coming soon!