Roads: Driving America's Great Highways (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780684868851)

As he crisscrosses America--driving in search of the present, the past, and himself--Larry McMurtry shares his fascination with this nation's great trails and the culture that has developed around them.

Ever since he was a boy growing up in Texas only a mile from Highway 281, Larry McMurtry has felt the pull of the road. His town was thoroughly landlocked, making the highway his river, its hidden reaches a mystery and an enticement. I began my life beside it and I want to drift down the entire length of it before I end this book.

In Roads, McMurtry embarks on a cross-country trip where his route is also his destination. As he drives, McMurtry reminisces about the places he's seen, the people he's met, and the books he's read, including more than 3,000 books about travel. He explains why watching episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show might be the best way to find joie de vivre in Minnesota; the scenic differences between Route 35 and I-801; which vigilantes lived in Montana and which hailed from Idaho; and the histories of Lewis and Clark, Sitting Bull, and Custer that still haunt Route 2 today.

As it makes its way from South Florida to North Dakota, from eastern Long Island to Oregon, Roads is travel writing at its best.

Author: Larry McMurtry
ISBN-10: 0684868857
ISBN-13: 9780684868851
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Language: English
Published: 06/05/2001
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.49lbs
Size: 8.14h x 5.24w x 0.46d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 07/29/2001 pg. 20
New York Times 12/02/2001 pg. 89

About the Author
Larry McMurtry (1936-2021) was the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove, three memoirs, two collections of essays, and more than thirty screenplays. He lived in Archer City, Texas.