To us, he was like Dean Moriarty in On the Road, but more laid-back.

Dean Moriarty is based upon the Beat generation writer Neal Cassady.

We see this contrasted with Dean Moriarty who is portrayed as the depiction of a child, always on the move.

Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty in the book) had died the year before in 1968.

Cassady's name was changed to "Dean Moriarty", to make the book appear more fictional than it really was.

Jack Kerouac never told readers what happened to old Dean Moriarty.

Alex has another love interest, her classmate Dean Moriarty, and tries to impress him by using magic to make him think she's smart.

With the coming of Dean Moriarty began the part of my life you could call my life on the road.

We thought maybe by accident Old Dean Moriarty was here too-but he was not.

And there's Dean Moriarty, whose incredible thirst for life (and women) gives the book its extraordinary momentum.