BEAT'S `ON THE ROAD' TAKES TO THE AIRWAVES.

Byline: Bernadette Murphy Special to the Daily News

The book that spawned the Beat generation, that is credited with launching the hippie movement of the 1960s, and that convinced more than a few Americans to question the validity of the American Dream will be discussed this evening on ``StoryLines California,'' a public radio literature program.

First published in 1957, ``On the Road,'' by Jack Kerouac, is a first-person unrestrained flow of words and images patterned after the spontaneity found in jazz music. The narrative traces the seemingly non-stop road-trips made by the two main characters, Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, between New York, Denver, San Francisco and back again, and explores the deepening friendship that develops as they follow the pull of the road, breaking societal constraints along the way.

In the course of their traipsing, Paradise and Moriarty (fictional stand-ins for Kerouac and his free-spirited friend Neal Cassady) breach the traditional values of 1950s America by dressing differently, experimenting with drugs and casual sex, and invoking the rhythms of jazz as a way to fracture the monotony of mainstream society. In this rupture, they find their own ``beat,'' a more conscious lifestyle that shuns society's demands that they fit in.

The work - which Kerouac typed on a roll of paper to keep the flow uninterrupted, producing a 175,000-word first draft in 20 days - is characterized by an on-rushing style completely rooted in a given moment. Throughout, Kerouac embraces an inextinguishable delight in life.

Describing a night out with friends on the streets of New York, for example, he writes: ``They rushed down the street together, digging everything in the early way they had . . . they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everyone goes `Awww!' ''

``The book is about a search for authenticity and identity that are forever just out of reach,'' said ``StoryLines'' co-host Lynell George. In this way, the book appeals to those who may consider themselves outsiders. ``If you don't fit in, whatever your age, if you don't buy what's being handed to you, if you realize that the traditional route of school, then college or a job, marriage and kids isn't the only route, if you want something more, this book scratches that itch.'' According to George, one of the exceptional facets of Kerouac's writing is his willingness to embrace all aspects of the human condition. ``He acknowledges all the colors; he doesn't shut down or try to shut out what's ugly.'' Using musical imagery to describe Kerouac's range, she said, ``He can write in the major keys and get the story across, but he knows all the blue notes and minor keys as well.''

``It's an interesting choice for a California literature series because I don't consider it a California book,'' said co-host David L. Ulin. ``I think it's less about California than about the mythic significance of California to the rest of the country.'' According to Ulin, by the time this book was written, the physical frontier of the West had been mastered. ``On the Road,'' then, ``explores the psychic frontier that California represents as a place to reinvent one's self, to get away.''

Regardless of what gives the book its California flavor, though, there's no question that it influenced a vast number of people. Ulin credits the Beat movement, and this book in which the Beat movement found its mass appeal, with the genesis of contemporary American counterculture. ``The Beats were the disaffected middle-class bohemia, those who were outsiders by temperament, not necessity,'' he said, pointing out that a direct lineage can be traced from the Beats to the hippies and then on to the punks of the 1980s. ``But without this book,'' Ulin said, ``there are no hippies.''

Joining Ulin and George to discuss ``On the Road'' and its impact will be Lewis McAdams, poet, journalist and filmmaker, who created the documentary ``What Happened to Kerouac.'' McAdams was a close friend to iconic Beat writer Allen Ginsberg. The program will also feature Ruben Martinez, journalist, television personality and author, who is currently at work on a book about Kerouac.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) no caption (Book cover - ON THE ROAD)

(2) Neal Cassady, left, and Jack Kerouac