On the Road

It's amazing that, with only a small bag of vocal tricks and no particular attention to subtext, Frank Muller can hold one's attention through a tome as large as this one. His voice is inherently compelling and always expressive. Here he essays the bestselling roman ê clef by the author who named and exemplified the Beat Generation. Penniless young Sal Paradise, Kerouac's alter ego, travels across America to discover himself with the help of a new buddy fresh out of reform school. Here one finds the themes that profoundly influenced the counterculture of the 60s. Muller emphasizes the romance and adventure of Paradise's escapades, though, if our hero grew spiritually and intellectually from his pilgrimages, we do not hear it. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine


Reflecting the jazzy style of its day, ON THE ROAD gave an honest vision to a post-war generation of bored youths longing for sex, drugs and adventure on the open road. Kerouac counterpoints the rhythms and structures of Sal Paradise's long, poetic sentences with Dean Moriarty's bursts of raw energy to create the music of this apotheosis of Beat. Tom Parker (aka Grover Gardner) performs with intelligence in pacing and characterization and complete awareness of meanings. Parker's strong but relaxed voice carries us through the lonely, love-starved American landscape in which the mystical (and now mythological) Moriarty fights a losing battle against oblivion. Tom Parker's performance is tremendous. He makes it seem so easy! P.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine