In spite of its reputation, On the Road is best understood as a skillfully managed traditional novel. Both the manuscript history and the text itself make it clear that Kerouac's most famous book is a good deal more challenging and intricate, if less innovative, than has been generally believed. Even though the particular version that led to On the Road as published was drafted in about three weeks of typing onto a continuous roll of paper, at that point Kerouac had been working on versions of the book for two and a half years…. (p. 1)
Kerouac's later claims that he did not revise are not accurate reflections of his practice or even his theory. He revised carefully both On the Road and most of the novels that followed it…. [In a letter to Allen Ginsberg in May, 1952, Kerouac] first insists that he will not allow anyone to edit the book and then talks about how hard he has been laboring with his revisions of the book. It is clear from this letter that what Kerouac opposes is having others cut material out of his manuscript. He is not opposed to craft with language. Even Kerouac's "Essentials of Spontaneous Prose,"… a primary source for the notion that Kerouac refused to revise, indicates that his primary concern was that the conscious critical mind might censor the richness of the imagination. (p. 2)
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