The UT library system is truly impressive; it might even be enough to make YOU appreciate TX. Personally I still find the Gutenberg bible and medieval tapestries more interesting, but from what I have heard Kerouac was lucky to ever get anyone to publish On the Road; the rejection at the link was rather gentle indeed to omit objections about being typed on a single piece of paper without paragraph or chapter breaks. It is a good book, but I agree with those who say it is overrated; his later works are far more mature and thought provoking, and before anyone adopts On the Road or even The Dharma Bums as their "bible" they should read as far as Desolation Angels and Big Sur to get the rest of the story. Some tales do not have happy endings, and almost none of those that glorify spontaneous but irresponsibe living in the moment. It is a fine enough idea for a twenty year old, but making a life time of it is leads to things like shooting ones wife while playing with a gun (William Burroughs) going to prison for drug possession and dying of exposure by a railroad track (Neal Cassady) or hiding from misguided admirers until cirrhosis causes massive hemorrhaging and death (Kerouac.) The appeal of becoming a beatnik is somewhat less now that it means I would probably be dead within five years.