“All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road” − Jack Kerouac, On the Road.
Route 56 immediately kindles images of American motorways and the long stretches of tarmacked surfaces distributed over the vast expanse of the huge country, a gigantic political and geographical entity of 52 states. In fact, Route 56 connects four of these states: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.
Dragonfly by Etienne Farrell
The term ‘route’ also evokes American road trips, driving large fuel-guzzling cars and embarking on life-defining trips of self-discovery. One of the most famous American road trips to be recorded was that of beat generation writer Jack Kerouac, immortalised in his celebrated novel On the Road.