"The National Road is a collection of essays about American places, each dealing with contentious matters: religion, politics, sex, race, poverty, loss and the stubborn persistence of national pride, despite abundant reasons for cynicism. An important question lies at the heart of this collection: what does it mean to "belong" in America in the midst of an era when rootedness to a particular piece of ground means less than at any time during our history? These essays cover a wide range of subjects: the changing geography of pornography, the proliferation of "dollar stores," the unique pain of losing a house, the joy and futility of cross-country drives, the ways that certain town governments can turn vicious, the quest to stand upon the topographical roof of every state, a journey into the wilderness to find the body of a notorious killer, a unique examination of the most "American" major religion in the gloom past midnight, a personal eulogy for the metropolitan daily newspaper. From their particular angles, they all examine changing definitions of this shared soil. In a time of collective unease, the American land - this magnificent 3.7 million square miles -- is the lowest denominator of what we have in common"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.