A review by librarianonparade
The Longest Road: Overland in Search of America, from Key West to the Arctic Ocean by Philip Caputo
3.0
The very concept of roadtrips are as American as apple pie, and the American road trip travelogue shows no signs of going out of style. This book is very much in the standard vein, an exploration of the American highways and by-ways, its people and towns, quirks and landmarks, a journey from Key West at the southernmost tip of the United States, all the way to Deadhorse in Alaska. Where it differs is that it does include a sizeable chunk of Canadian road trip, whilst on the way to Alaska. Impossible to avoid Canada if one is roadtripping to Alaska, of course!
Philip Caputo's central 'gimmick' (for lack of a better word) for his roadtrip, is to discover what it is about America that makes it hang together, when it comprises such a huge landmass, so many different and disparate peoples and cultures and worldviews. The reason I call it a gimmick is because in reality that is only a very minor subplot in his narrative, one he spends little time on and never comes to any kind of final conclusion - which is probably impossible anyway. Other than that, this book could sit aside any number of similar books on travels through the US.
It was an entertaining read, as so many such virtual tours through America are. America's diversity and scale are part of what makes these travelogues so enjoyable - I can think of few other countries that can boast such diversity of culture and geography, certainly an immense contrast to tiny little England! So entertaining, enjoyable, but with very little to distinguish it from the mass of similar titles.
Philip Caputo's central 'gimmick' (for lack of a better word) for his roadtrip, is to discover what it is about America that makes it hang together, when it comprises such a huge landmass, so many different and disparate peoples and cultures and worldviews. The reason I call it a gimmick is because in reality that is only a very minor subplot in his narrative, one he spends little time on and never comes to any kind of final conclusion - which is probably impossible anyway. Other than that, this book could sit aside any number of similar books on travels through the US.
It was an entertaining read, as so many such virtual tours through America are. America's diversity and scale are part of what makes these travelogues so enjoyable - I can think of few other countries that can boast such diversity of culture and geography, certainly an immense contrast to tiny little England! So entertaining, enjoyable, but with very little to distinguish it from the mass of similar titles.