If you enjoyed The Longest Road: Overland in Search of America from Key West to the Arctic Ocean by Philip Caputo, then you might also like these great classic road books suggested by our discussion group members: Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck; On the Road by Jack Kerouac; and Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon.
In a conversation between Caputo and Leat Heat-Moon about travel and the genre of the road book published in the New York Times (July 11, 2013), Caputo said, "The road book is a peculiarly American genre. I don’t know of any Italian road books or British road books or French road books or Spanish road books. Maybe “Don Quixote” would qualify as a Spanish road book. Why do you think that is?" Least Heat-Moon replied, "My theory is it comes from the historic fact we are all from the other side of the planet. I know there are American Indian tribes that deny that, but I think archaeology and anthropology show that all of the so-called Native American tribes did indeed come from the Eastern Hemisphere. We’re all the descendants of travelers. And with the exception of people of African descent, virtually all of our ancestors came here wanting to find better territory. I think it’s genetic memory functioning — when life gets this way or that way, and we’re not really happy with it, what do we do? Put a kit bag over one shoulder and head out for the road because that’s where solutions might lie. Somewhere out there is an answer to why a life is as it is."
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