Blue Highways: A Journey into America

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 1,920 ratings

Price: 26.61

Last update: 12-19-2024


About this item

Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads. William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put home behind him and a sense of curiosity about "those little towns that get on the map-if they get on at all-only because some cartographer has a blank space to fill: Remote, Oregon; Simplicity, Virginia; New Freedom, Pennsylvania; New Hope, Tennessee; Why, Arizona; Whynot, Mississippi." His adventures, his discoveries, and his recollections of the extraordinary people he encountered along the way amount to a revelation of the true American experience.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Sally
    5.0 out of 5 stars WOW
    Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2024
    I am a "blueline" traveler. This book is absolutely wonderful. Very imformative and anecdotal. Really really enjoyed this one.
  • Displaced snowshoer in Arizona
    5.0 out of 5 stars I like this Series
    Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2024
    Book 1- Blue Highways
    Book 2 - Prairie Earth
    Book 3 - River Horse
    The writing is smooth and easy to read. The Topics are interesting.
    If you want to “see the country” in a different way, off the beaten track, these books will take you on a great journey.
  • Andrew Wu
    4.0 out of 5 stars Takes you on a descriptive journey to the lesser seen parts of the country
    Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2014
    A friend had suggested this book to me after hearing that I wanted to do a cross-country road trip. I tucked the title away in the back of my head until a few months ago. I'd already gotten to drive across the country and while I stuck mostly to the interstate system (thereby passing all of the interesting 3 and 4 calendar diners the author notes) my fellow travelers and I did get to see some places away from the interstate (eg groom, tx, hot springs, ak (ok this is rather popular)).

    I've been enjoying this book at a slow pace. The writing is wonderfully descriptive - I've learned more about the plants and vegetation in the places visited than I did traveling through similar places on my own. The encounters Mr. least-Heat Moon describes generally have been interesting. I was especially fascinated by how open and hospitable many of them were to a guy traveling on his own.

    Overall the stories have whetted my appetite for an extended drive across the country with a hope for similar encounters and a glimpse into small-town America that lives away from the major arteries of transportation.
  • Robert A. Hall
    5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book
    Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024
    I listened to this book on disk many years ago; I have just reread it. It is even better than I recalled. WLHM is a wonderful writer. His account of the people he met on this journey around the country, and the places he visited, makes one want to pack the car and go. (Blue highways are the back roads shown in blue on the maps.) in many ways this is an account of an America that has vanished. If you enjoy good writing and like people, you will love this older book.

    Amazon Author
    Quote for the Conservative Heart
  • Frederic B
    5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone Should Read This Book
    Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2024
    Just like Travels with Charlie, this is a tour of the United States - the one that existed 40 years ago. There were plenty of scabs, and plenty of great, small places. We could have this back, and make it better. Make sure you vote this year.
  • LKM
    5.0 out of 5 stars Traveling across America in a van on highways from blue lines on old maps.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024
    I read the original copy from a library in 2007. I wasted no time buying one for my own bookshelves. I absolutely love this man's writing and have his other two books. I've had to replace this book 2 more times because it somehow disappears. So, if you buy it and love it as much as I do, hide it, or don't loan it. This is a pick of mine that will one day be a classic. My other favorite is named "River Horse", meaning across America by boat. Both are fascinating with interviews with people he meets along the way. I love books, have bought books all my life, also were gifted to me as a child.
    No camera., sorry.
  • kjsem78
    3.0 out of 5 stars Gets to be a bit of a chore to read
    Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2015
    I loved Steinbeck's Travels With Charley, so I decided to give Blue Highways a try. The travelogue started out pretty good but spiraled down during the last third. It wasn't until after I had completed the book I realized why. As Moon travels through the South, then desert Texas and into the West, his interactions with people give snapshots to that particular region: their culture, problems, idiosyncracies, etc. Specifically, I loved the parts where he talks gumbo to people in Louisiana, and I was fascinated by the town in Texas in the middle of nowhere which had about five residents. These exchanges are what a truly good travelogue should include because they really portrayed what life to these people was like.

    It's when he gets to the northern reaches of the country and into New England the tone gets whiny and boring. For example, he laments that a town in Rhode Island is no longer the semi-seedy, drinking Navy town he remembered it as. Instead, there were *GASP* nice shops and restaurants! How awful. And he bemoans through another resident that people from New York City (The Horror!) come to the town on the weekends. How dare these cosmopolitan people from the big, bad city come there and pump money into the local economy! I understand that the central focus of the book is travelling the blue highways of America, but the scornful attitude he shows toward city life is annoying. You can't paint an accurate picture of "A Journey Into America" without examining its cities and talking to their residents.

    One example of where the book veers into dull territory is Moon's conversation with an elderly woman living in a town near Lake Winnepesaukee. She proceeds to tell him the story about how the town got its name, but the story is so incredibly boring it was the only part of the book I couldn't get through. There was no point to include it in the final draft. Conversations and observations like this are typical in the last third of the book; they don't give us any fresh or interesting insight into the region which Moon is passing through. It took me a long time to get through the book because the last 150 pages or so turned into a disjointed slog. Three stars for having a fair number of absorbing parts.
  • Ora G
    5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Wait Too Long to Read This
    Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024
    I don't know why I waited so long to read this book. It's an intriguing look into rural America from a Native American writer. He conveys a sometimes compassionate, and often funny, perspective on lost dreams, wasted effort, and run-down byways. I confess I got a little impatient with it toward the end, but it was satisfying to have him come full circle and make it back home. High recommended!

    • Best Sellers in

     
     

    Kauai Travel Guide: Discover the Heart of Paradise with Expert Tips for Experiencing Kauai's Top Sites, Hidden Spots, and Cul

    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 61
    6.08
     
     

    The Epic 15 Bucket List Travel Guide: Wheels and Wanderlust

    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 119
    13.08
     
     

    Denver Dossier: Themed Adventures for Every Traveler (Travel Series)

    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 32
    13.08
     
     

    The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir

    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1804
    21.25
     
     

    Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration

    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 458
    17.03
     
     

    Arctic Dreams

    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1065
    19.69
     
     

    A Paris All Your Own: Best-Selling Women Writers on the City of Light

    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 100
    13.78
     
     

    Buying Disney's World: The Story of How Florida Swampland Became Walt Disney World

    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 464
    13.08