Michael Imperioli points to Jack Kerouac as a guide for beating isolation

Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel, “On the Road,” defined him as the voice of the Beat Generation. His bestseller is a road trip bromance featuring thinly veiled versions of himself as Sal Paradise, and his best friend Neal Cassady as Dean Moriarty. It encouraged wanderlust as Sal and Dean traveled across the country, indulging in their freedoms and desires with almost reckless abandon. Reading the novel is a rite of passage for some; for others, it can be a guide for dissent against conformity. And then there is Truman Capote’s opinion; he reportedly quipped, “That’s not writing; it’s typing,” about Kerouac’s literary touchstone.

The engaging new documentary, “Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation,” uses “On the Road” as a starting point for examining the author as well as American life then and now. Josh Brolin and Matt Dillon discuss the influence the novel had on them. W. Kamau Bell addresses the cultural context and impact of this “great American novel,” and how it is also very much of its time. Natalie Merchant (who penned the 10,000 Maniacs song, “Hey Jack Kerouac”) makes some shrewd observations about Kerouac being “self-destructive, self-delusional and self-aggrandizing.” Other talking heads describe Kerouac as an outsider, discuss his possible bisexuality, and his experiences as a French Canadian from a working-class family who went to Columbia on a football scholarship before serving in the Merchant Marines.

Director Ebs Burnough also includes three contemporary storylines of modern-day travelers — Diana, who is driving to reunite with the father she has been estranged from; Amir, a Philadelphia teenager setting off for his freshman year at Morehouse College; and Tenaj and Tino, a couple of empty nesters who roam around America in their van. Their stories reflect and refract the themes of “On the Road” for today.

Actor Michael Imperioli, who reads passages from Kerouac’s novel throughout the documentary, spoke with Salon in advance of the film’s World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. He discussed his impressions about Kerouac, “On the Road” and “Kerouac’s Road.”

Kerouac fans have nostalgia for the Beats. What was your impression of Kerouac?

I have been a fan of Kerouac since I was 18 years old, when I first read “On the Road” and started reading a bunch of his other stuff. He has always really meant a lot to me, primarily in the way he expressed a certain openness and compassion for his fellow human beings. I think that understanding the shortcomings and frailties of other people and having sympathy for that . . . “What Happened to Jack Kerouac” is my favorite doc about him. It’s all interviews.

Kerouac was asked on the “Steve Allen Show” what “Beat” meant, and he said, “sympathetic,” which I think he really, really believed. When he was on the Buckley show and defending what it meant to be a Beat from Buckley and other people who were attacking counterculture, he said it was a movement of tenderness. Those things always came through in his work.

My hope for this movie is that young people and others who have never been exposed to his work are inspired to read him and go to the source and see what he was about for themselves through his literature. I think the movie does a wonderful job of portraying the relevance of “On the Road” and Kerouac’s philosophy in a world that is very isolated. People are isolated from each other in terms of communication, and spending lots of time online and in virtual scenarios and digital communities, whereas Kerouac’s was much more face-to-face and really seeing people for who they are rather than virtual, online representation.

What do you recall about reading “On the Road?” What did you identify with? How did it influence you?

To me, it is really about an openness to experience and to other human beings and who other people are, regardless of how they are different from you — a willingness and eagerness to experience that. I think that’s very profound, and he expressed it in a very original, really exciting, and really unorthodox way as a fiction writer.

My favorite of his books is “Big Sur.” I just think his depiction of the horrors of addiction . . . obviously, he is writing from experience . . . but he’s so accurate and honest and eloquent. My favorite writer of all time — Kerouac is definitely one of them — but a little closer to my heart is Isaac Bashevis Singer, for the same reason I like Kerouac. He had a real compassion for human beings and their faults and their limitations and their exceptional qualities. There is an objectivity to their perspective that seems very wise and noble.

The novel is a narrative of exploration and having a sense of adventure and taking chances. But it is a snapshot of America in general and the American dream in particular. What meaning do you ascribe to the work? Why do you think it resonates today?

I think it is because we as a species yearn for that connection as much as we have been whipped up into tribalism and propagandized into tribalism. We yearn for real and meaningful connections with our fellow human beings and that will resonate as we get further into virtual socializing and staying home instead of being out on the road. We will always have a yearning to connect on some real, fundamental, and profound spiritual level.

Yes! There is also a spiritual component to “On the Road.” That it is about the journey, not the destination and finding yourself and discovering who you are. It’s about freedom and indulging in happiness. What are your thoughts about that?

Exactly! Freedom and uncovering who you are. Kerouac was an extremely spiritual human being. If you read “The Scripture of the Golden Eternity,” you really see how much he was impacted and inspired by Buddhism and how much he actually understood the teachings. It comes through in his writing and not in a dogmatic way at all in the novels, but in a very human and practical way.

The documentary addresses some of the more problematic issues in the book, such as its racism and misogyny and even use of the word “fag.” This is very much a privileged white male book. Do you think this is one of the seeds of toxic masculinity?

I don’t think Kerouac was a racist or a misogynist. He was a flawed human being. I don’t think he was abusive or racist. He might have been uncomfortable with his own sexuality, but I feel focusing on those things . . . I’m not sure I would consider him toxic masculinity . . .

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I’m not saying Kerouac was toxic, but the root of that kind of masculinity is there. I think “On the Road” is very much of its time, and readers may have looked past the insensitive things he wrote. Kerouac had an outsider status because of his working-class background, his difficulties with his mother. He struggled with fame that led him to alcoholism. He had his own mishegoss.

Like all of us. [Laughs] I think, despite whatever background he came from and culturally where he was at, he, as an artist and person, transcended those things. People today are sensitive to certain things and are offended by things that they might not have been back then. I don’t really know. It’s a novel. Are you examining Kerouac, or the characters in a book? Is there a difference? I don’t know.

The film calls out his complications, and the film explains what motivated him to seek this freedom and pursue these connections. What about the concept of home, which is echoed in the stories of Amir, Diana, Tenoj and Tino in “Kerouac’s Road,” which are contemporary versions of “On the Road?”

I thought it was important to have stories like that in this modern context. We’re at a point where a lot of our interaction is not happening in person. I think there is something disturbing and sad about that. Hopefully, there will be a movement away from this isolation. I hope so.

Do you recall a memorable road trip you’ve taken?

Driving through the countryside of Sicily with my wife and kids about 15 years ago. We rented a car in Palermo and drove through the middle of it and in these small towns. My family goes back to that part of the world many years ago. We traced our roots back to the 1700s in Sicily, and there was something about being there with my family and experiencing this world that my family came from hundreds of years ago was very exciting and profound.

It’s that idea of home, echoed in the film…

That’s the interesting thing. My closest roots are in Rome. The first time I went to Rome, it was a very strange experience. The smells and sounds, and even faces, seemed really familiar yet foreign at the same time. I have traveled a bit in other countries, but I had never experienced that. It was really strange because you felt there is an element of familiarity and home here, but yet I’m also a foreigner, and it’s not.

What would you ask Kerouac if you had the chance to meet him?

I’d talk about Buddhism with him. Maybe I’d ask him if he has read any books lately. [Laughs] I forget what book it is, maybe you will know, that ends with “That’s my story. Let’s hear yours.” I love that. It might be “Dharma Bums” that ends with that sentence. I always felt that was, in a way, very Kerouac. He liked hearing other people’s stories. He also liked telling stories — he was a master storyteller — but he liked hearing other people’s stories. Maybe that kind of sums up what he was about.

“Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation” releases in select theaters Aug. 1.