Kevin R. (kcrouth) - , reviewed on 9/15/2016

I loved this book. The author, William Least Heat-Moon leaves Columbia MO in 1978 to embark on a trip literally around the entire continental US (map here) http://littourati.squarespace.com/sto...) in a 1975 Ford Econoline van (the van he named Ghost Dancing) . https://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/min.... I arrived in Columbia as a freshman engineering student the following year, 1979. His plan was to follow the secondary roads rather than the main highways (blue on the map, interstates were red), hence the title "Blue Highways". This account of his journey is filled with history, real people and places, and a depth and authenticity in the telling of these peoples stories that allows the reader to experience the interaction that the author is sharing with us. The places visited, and people encountered and interviewed on this journey are fascinating and offer a rich cross section of the US. Historical depth is provided, sometimes by the author, but most often by the people interviewed. This account bears a similarity to another travelogue I recently read by John Steinbeck entitled "Travels with Charley". Both of these books are excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

I couldn't help but feel like embarking on a journey of this kind myself. Maybe that feeling is what is referred to as "wanderlust"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderlust The Wiki article suggests that a better term may be "farsickness". Whatever it is called, I felt it, and also am reminded of a trip my wife and I took 2 years ago. After a family reunion in Colorado, we kept the rental van, and spent 2 more weeks driving around Colorado and New Mexico, just seeing what we could see. It was but a small taste of what this wonderful book shares, but a taste nevertheless. I'm jumping into the companion volume "Blue Highways Revisited" which is a pictorial journey over the same route some 30 years later. In addition I'm in search of the remaining 2 books of the so-called travel trilogy by William Least Heat-Moon
1. Blue Highways
2. PrairyErth
3. River-Horse

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