More Reviews

Roads: Driving America's Great Highways
Written by:  Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster, 2000

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry is best known for his westerns. But, in addition to his talent for spinning cowboy yarns, McMurtry is also an accomplished writer of nonfiction. Roadsa sort of diary of his travels from January through Septemberis McMurtrys second memoir.

He says: Being alone in a car is to be protected for a time from the pressures of day-to-day life; its like being in ones own time machine, in which the mind can rove ahead to the future or scan the past. And rove he does, at times expressing his nostalgia, at others giving voice to his opinions. Be it the fate of farmers in the Midwest or the porn videos he finds being sold at truck stops, McMurtry is not shy about telling what he thinks about the state of Western Civilization.

McMurtrys voice is clear and convincing. Into the narrative he brings history of place. Place will always be distinct, he says, and these notes will show, I hope, that America is still a country of immense diversity.

I like this book for its linearity, frequent digressions, philosophical insights, historical asides and comments on other books and writers. McMurtry is a collector of rare books and claims to have read 3000 on just travel. Im a fan of true stories that teach me through the authors well-formed prose without making me feel that I am being taught. Through McMurtrys talent, Roads succeeds at this.Garry Wallace