Blue Highways: A Journey Into America - Softcover

Heat-Moon, William Least

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0395585686 ISBN 13: 9780395585689

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991

Synopsis

That unexcelled exploration of our nation based on a 13,000-mile journey in a Ford van along back roads (printed in blue on old maps) is available for the first time in a trade paperback edition that replicates the style and design of the original hardcover. Photographs and maps.

About this title

Review

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.

About the Author

Under the name of William Least Heat-Moon, William Trogdon is the author of two best-selling classics BLUE HIGHWAYS and PRAIRYERTH. His newest book is RIVER-HORSE: A VOYAGE ACR0SS AMERICA. His pen name came from his father saying, "I call myself Heat Moon, your elder brother is Little Heat Moon. You, coming last, therefore, are Least." Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Heat-Moon attended the University of Missouri where he joined Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He earned bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in English, as well as a bachelor's degree in photojournalism. He also served as a professor of English at the university. He lives in Columbia, Missouri.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0395585686
• ISBN 13: 9780395585689
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 421