On the Road

Sal and a friend named Roland Major stay in an apartment owned by the parents of another friend, Tim Gray. While Roland is also a writer, he doesn’t approve of the bohemian “arty types” (27) he says he increasingly sees everywhere. Sal asks his friends about Dean, but none of them answer his questions. Eventually, Sal receives a call from Carlo, who tells him that Dean is now in a relationship with a woman named Camille. Dean is splitting his time between Camille and Marylou, feeding lies to both women while also having sex with them. When Dean is free, he and Carlo spend long hours talking together and taking drugs such as Benzedrine. Occasionally, they attend strange events such as car racing in which all the drivers are little people.

One evening, Sal goes with Carlo to find Dean. Camille doesn’t like Carlo, so he hides while Sal approaches the front door. Dean answers the door fully nude, as he was in bed with Camille, but leaves her to go to a bar with Sal and Carlo. They meet up with a group of women that includes Rita Bettencourt, a waitress who Dean thinks will get along well with Sal. The get-together becomes a big party. Sal encourages everyone to return to the apartment where he’s staying, but Roland refuses to let them in. Instead, the group wanders around town. Eventually, Sal realizes that he’s all alone and out of money. He returns to the apartment and falls into a deep and satisfying sleep. 

Eddie, the alcoholic, whom Sal met while hitchhiking, appears in Denver. Dean encourages Eddie and Sal to find jobs at the local street market. Sal doesn’t want to work; he’s happy to stay rent-free in Roland’s apartment, especially because Roland buys all the food in exchange for Sal’s cooking and cleaning. Sal attends a party thrown by his friends, the Rawlinses, and then leaves to find Carlo. He visits Carlo’s house, where Carlo reads him a new poem while they wait for Dean to arrive. Sal sits and listens to Carlo and Dean talk, but his attention drifts and he occasionally pretends to fall asleep. The conversation covers many topics but seems to lack any real structure. The next day, Sal walks home as the sun rises over the mountains. 

Roland, the Rawlinses, Tim, and Sal take a trip through the Rocky Mountains to a tourist mine town named Central City. They spend their weekend in an old mining shack. The entertainment includes a production of the opera Fidelio, and Sal is thoroughly pleased with the experience. The group throws a party in their shack, after which Sal goes to the local bars with Tim and Ray Rawlins. In one bar, they spot Denver D. Doll, a local legend who shakes everyone’s hands. A fight breaks out between Ray and some locals, so the men run into the street to escape. Sal feels the ghosts of the dead miners everywhere in the town. Afterward, Ray gets into another fight, and the men are thrown out. They sleep in the dusty shack and then drive back to Denver in the morning. 

Back in Denver, Sal learns that Dean and Carlo were in Central City at the same time but did not know that he was there. Sal goes on a date with Rita and tries to convince her to sleep with him, but she shows little affection toward him. As Sal makes the decision to go to San Francisco and begins to say goodbye to everyone, more of his friends arrive in Denver. Eventually, Sal gets his missing shirt back from Eddie and the others decide to join him on the trip to San Francisco. Sal’s aunt wires him more money and he catches a bus west.