The Beat Goes On

I'm not a huge fan of the beat writers -- their technique sometimes strikes me as sloppy, though I understand it's part of the package -- but in light of the 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, I'm willing to recognize one of the most famous artistic groups of the past century. A Boston Globe writer takes a trip to find out what remains of beat America and whether Kerouac, Cassady, and Ginsburg still resonate in 21st century America. The contrasts are interesting. Back then, the beats saw a barrenness in politics and seemed to do little (at least for about a decade.) Today, politics is again barren, but I think young people are more active in the process.