The difference between what is and what we want to be

So I was over at www.thelastpsychiatrist.com reading his review of On the Road, and I thought he brought up some pretty salient points.
Let me start off by saying that I read OTR about 6 months ago. At the time, I was trying to get caught up on some of the classic American novels of the 20th century, so I picked up a copy of OTR and a copy of Catch 22, and re-read Catcher in the Rye. My reactions were as follows.
1) Catcher in the Rye: Oh man, I can't believe I hated this when I was 15. This perfectly captures the feelings of teenage angst, of wanting to be something more than what you are, that unique teenage narcissism and desire for adventure that makes being a teenager so enraging and frustrating yet so fucking great in hindsight. Glad I re-read this.
2) Catch 22: Oh man, this is not what I expected. I didn't realize it was so absurd. But man, this is funny stuff. No wonder it's a classic.
3) On The Road: FUCKKKKKK. THIS SUCKS. WHY DID I WASTE MY MONEY? FUCK YOU SAL PARADISE. FUCK YOU DEAN MORIARTY. FUCK YOU JACK KEROUAC.

On the Road, in a word, sucked. I thought this was going to be the summary of every road trip fantasy, the search for freedom and meaning in a society gone mad. I'd laugh, I'd cry, and I'd come away inspired to make my own reality, to venture out into the world and make my mark at any cost.
What a load of shit. On the Road is about two whiny bitches who are terrified of life. There is no deep meaning behind their journey. They run not for the sake of freedom, but because they don't have the balls to stay. They aren't looking to make their mark: they're petrified of it. Dean is the more dominant of the two, meaning he's the one who pretends to have a sack. Sal has no such pretension. He's a coward and he knows he's a coward. He needs to leech of a stronger personality, because this is the kind of guy who disappears in crowds. Dean just happens to have the biggest mouth around, so Sal sucks onto his underbelly like one of those fish you see swimming around sharks, and goes along for the ride. There is not a single goddam noble moment in the entire book. Sal is a non-entity. He is a supporting character in his own life. Dean is an asshole. He abandons kids as quickly as he can conceive them. He lies to women to fuck them (this doesn't make him a ladies man or suave. Anybody can fuck women as themselves provided they have the confidence. Dean does not).
Maybe one day an author will come along and pen the REAL great American road trip book. This clearly isn't it.