The Beat movement lasted five years and caused many young men to go on the road in emulation of Jack Kerouac. Young women found the pursuit of freedom much more complicated. Nonetheless, it was my revolution. I didn’t go anywhere. I just left the New York neighborhood where I’d grown up and moved much farther downtown. I ended up accidentally with Kerouac in the center of the action, yet always felt myself on the periphery. I was much more of an observer than I wanted to be.
