The National Road: Dispatches from a Changing America (2020)
by Tom Zoellner
As a journalist and consummate traveller who has criss-crossed America dozens of times, Zoellner has seen changes in the national landscape - which he chronicles in this book, which is part memoir, part travelogue, and part journal in a work reminiscent of Steinbeck's Travels With Charley.
Zoellner feels Americans move less today than any time within the last 50 years; we are more settled - or perhaps more set in our ways? He says there are "winner cities" (e.g., Portland, Austin, DC, San Francisco) and cities that have faded as manufacturing has moved to Asia and as farming has become more corporate (e.g., Cairo, IL and Gloversville, NY).
In the chapter "The National Road", Zoellner describes the first interstate highway; commissioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1806, it ran from Cumberland MD to Vandalia IL and is now lined with Dollar Stores and Walmarts (following its predecessor Woolworth's). He includes some interesting retail history in this chapter.
"Hoop of the World" derives from Black Elk's description of the world, along with Zoellner's attempts to climb the highest peak in every state, and some of the adventures and people he met.
"Late City Final" recalls Zoellner's first news job in a small town paper, and he laments the demise of newspapers "whose disappearance came in tandem with the unprecedented spread of lies in high places" (p 123) amid the rise of the internet.
Other chapters highlight more changes across America. While only a select offering of the current state of our country, The National Road is a fascinating read.
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