A review by laread
The Longest Road: Overland in Search of America, from Key West to the Arctic Ocean by Philip Caputo
1.0
The book does not live up to its premise. It puts forth itself as a road-trip tale with dogs in which the author, a journalist, interviews a range of Americans in search of an answer to 'what holds us together as a nation.' The writer makes sure to stick to no-man's land, thus only speaking with a very narrow sampling of Americans: a total lack of diversity. He is more interested -- enamored -- with Lewis & Clark than with the whole of America.
We have locals referring to Native Americans as hostiles and Native Americans referring to themselves as Indians. The writer comments that drilling oil is "bad for Sierra Club, good for North Dakota;" how naive, ignorant, and short-sighted. He partly blames misinformation (leading to divisions and anger) on TMI rather than poor information literacy skills. And Fred & Ethel -- what he lovingly terms his truck and trailer -- get more character development than Sage & Sky, canine companions.
We have locals referring to Native Americans as hostiles and Native Americans referring to themselves as Indians. The writer comments that drilling oil is "bad for Sierra Club, good for North Dakota;" how naive, ignorant, and short-sighted. He partly blames misinformation (leading to divisions and anger) on TMI rather than poor information literacy skills. And Fred & Ethel -- what he lovingly terms his truck and trailer -- get more character development than Sage & Sky, canine companions.