| In the Book |
In the Movie |
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Sal says he first met Dean not long after he and his wife split up. |
He says it isn't long after his father died. |
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Dean had been in a reform school in New Mexico. |
It was in Colorado.
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When Sal goes to meet Dean they also find Mary Lou jumping on the couch. |
Dean comes to the door naked as he is having sex with Mary Lou when they arrive. Mary Lou is naked in bed. |
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Mary Lou was a pretty blond with immense ringlets. |
Kristen Stewart's hair is light brown and is not curly.
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Sal says that he was getting over a serious illness when he first met Dean. |
He never mentions being sick. |
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Sal lives with his Aunt in New York. |
He lives with his mother.
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Dean wants to learn to write from Chad King, but he tells him he should learn from Sal. Dean goes to Sal's aunt's house after only meeting Sal once and asks him to teach him to write. |
Dean knows Sal well and just before he is going to leave to return to Denver, he comes to Sal's and asks him to show him how to write. |
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Doesn't happen. |
After Dean asks Sal to teach him to write, Sal types a line about Dean being a Cowboy.
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Carlo meets Dean after Sal has already met him. |
Carlo is with Sal and Chad when they go to meet Dean. |
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Carlo, Sal and Dean all take separate photos in a booth. They cut the picture of Sal down the middle and Carlo and Dean each put a half in their wallets. |
They take one picture all together and cut it down the middle of Sal's face. Sal keeps the half with Dean's face and Dean takes the other half and puts it in his book.
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Sal and Carlo see Dean off to Denver. He goes alone. |
Carlo goes with Dean to Denver. Sal sees them off. |
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Sal takes several rides into Denver, ending with a ride with a business man. |
He gets on a truck and they take him all the way.
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Sal goes to visit Chad King when he first arrives in Denver. Chad is no longer friends with Dean, so he doesn't know where he is. |
He goes to Carlo's apartment first. Carlo then takes Sal to visit Dean who is with Camile. |
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Carlo calls Sal in Denver and gives him directions to he apartment. |
Sal goes directly to Carlo's place.
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When Carlo takes Sal to Dean's place he decides at the last minute to hide so Camile can't see him. He doesn't give a reason why. |
Carlo tells Sal that Camile is angry with him and that is why he hides after he knocks on the door. |
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On Sal's first night in Denver, he, Dean and Carlo go to Rita's, but she isn't there. There are other people there, and the three stay and join the party. |
Sal, Dean and Carlo meet Rita and they are alone. Dean has promised that Sal can get together with Rita, but he ends up in bed with her instead.
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Sal takes a trip into the mountains while in Denver. |
He doesn't. |
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After leaving Denver the first time, Sal goes to San Francisco to meet Remi. He gets Sal a job as a guard in the barracks. |
He doesn't go to San Francisco after Denver.
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Sal is at the bus station in L.A. He sees the Mexican girl and thinks she is the cutest little thing. His bus is called and when he gets on he sees the girl sitting alone. He sits across from her for a while. He sees her attempting to sleep on her chair and he offers her his rain coat to use as a pillow. She refuses, and then he asks if he can sit with her. |
Sal is walking and waves down a passing bus. He gets on and sees the Mexican girl. She is the only one on the bus. He goes directly to her and says he can't find a seat and then sits down next to her. |
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Terry and Sal go to a hotel and he mentions a friend he has in New York who could help her get a job. She calls him a pimp. They have a huge fight and he kicks her out. They make up. |
This doesn't happen.
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Sal and Terry have sex while her son is in the same room. This happens while they are staying in a roadhouse on highway 99. |
They do it in a tent while they are picking cotton. |
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Dean, Ed and Mary-Lou show up at Sal's brother's house in Virginia between Christmas and New Years. |
They show up at Sal's Sister's house in Virginia on Christmas eve. They have already eaten.
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Dean offers to take Sal's Aunt's furniture back to New York in one trip, then return and bring his Aunt back on the second trip. |
Dean offers to drive Sal's Mother home in one trip. |
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Sal lives with his Aunt. |
Sal lives with his Mother.
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Sal is an Italian american. |
Sal is an american but is of French Canadian decent, like Jack Kerouac. |
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Sal lives in New Jersey. |
He lives in Ozone Park in Queens.
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Dean badly injures his thumb when attempting to hit Mary-Lou. He keeps it heavily wrapped. |
He never hurts his thumb. |
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Sal and Dean share a car ride with a homosexual salesman and a young couple. Dean tries to get money from the "fag" in many ways. He doesn't have sex with him. |
The "fag" comes to Sal and Dean's room and Sal watches through the bathroom door as Dean forcefully sodomizes the man. He doesn't give him any money.
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Dean has another relationship with Inez who he impregnates. He plans to marry her, but leaves her to go back to Camile. |
She doesn't appear. |
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Sal and Stan Shephard plan to go to Mexico. Dean hears about the plan and gets a car and they all drive there together. |
Sal and Dean go to Mexico alone.
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Sal tells Dean that he wants to move to San Francisco with his girlfriend in six weeks. Dean comes five and a half weeks early but Sal doesn't have the money to leave yet. Dean then decides to go back to San Francisco and asks for a drive to 40th street. Sal is about to go to a concert with his girlfriend and another couple and they can't give him the drive. |
Sal is about to get into the car with the others to go to the concert when Dean shows up on the street. He calls out to Sal and they have a conversation about how Dean has just arrived after riding in box cars all the way from San Fransico. Sal laments the fact that he can't give him a drive as the others call out for him and he leaves Dean shaking on the sidewalk. |