by William Heat-Moon
from Simon & Schuster Audio
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Editorial ReviewThis runaway 1983 bestseller is Least Heat-Moon's masterful view of the diversity of America--on a 13,000-mile, 38-state, automobile trek down the country's fascinating backroads. 2 cassettes. First published in 1982, William Least Heat-Moon's account of his journey along the back roads of the United States (marked with the color blue on old highway maps) has become something of a classic. When he loses his job and his wife on the same cold February day, he is struck by inspiration: "A man who couldn't make things go right could at least go. He could quit trying to get out of the way of life. Chuck routine. Live the real jeopardy of circumstance. It was a question of dignity." Driving cross-country in a van named Ghost Dancing, Heat-Moon (the name the Sioux give to the moon of midsummer nights) meets up with all manner of folk, from a man in Grayville, Illinois, "whose cap told me what fertilizer he used" to Scott Chisholm, "a Canadian citizen ... [who] had lived in this country longer than in Canada and liked the United States but wouldn't admit it for fear of having to pay off bets he made years earlier when he first 'came over' that the U.S. is a place no Canadian could ever love." Accompanied by his photographs, Heat-Moon's literary portraits of ordinary Americans should not be merely read, but savored.
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Customer Reviews:
- Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
- Curiously popular
I like both travel books and memoirs, well-written ones at least. Furthermore, I love long-distance driving (I find it therapeutic), and for years I have fantasized about taking an extended road trip around the United States. Thus, I am predisposed to liking BLUE HIGHWAYS. Alas, actually reading it proved to be somewhat of a slog. And this was my second attempt. My first was 25 years ago, shortly after buying the book (third printing of the hardback first edition); I managed to read only half of it back... more info
- Small-town America twenty-five years ago....a classic
A little over twenty-five years ago William Trogden, who took the name of his Native American ancestors and called himself William Least Heat Moon, set out on a journey across America in what was basically the ancestor of the modern SUV, a small truck which he named Ghost Dancing.
Initially he did this because he had lost his job and his wife in the space of a month, but his journey turned into much more than just an attempt to forget. It became a classic search for and journey into the heart of the... more info
- Tour book
Took a tour of America with a chip on his shoulder. Guess it gives you a different perspective.
- A Lot of Good Remains in America
I have written many reviews for Amazon.com. Blue Highways is the only book to which I've given five stars. I would recommend it to anyone.
Blue Highways is William Least Heat-Moon's account of his 1978 low-budget car ride across America. Heat-Moon's reporting reminds me a lot of Charles Kuralt's On the Road reports for CBS News. Heat-Moon has a talent for engaging strangers on the road and bringing out the best in them.
What separates Blue Highways from so many other travel books? There are a... more info
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