Blue Highways

Published in 1983 to phenomenal reviews, Blue Highways: A Journey into America became a cult classic on par with Jack Ke... (more)

Published in 1983 to phenomenal reviews, Blue Highways: A Journey into America became a cult classic on par with Jack Kerouac's On the Road and John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley. In this highly acclaimed, bestselling memoir, a 38-year-old laid-off college professor of Sioux and white blood drives around the U.S. on the "blue highways, " the rural back made that are colored blue on old maps. The places he discovers during his 13,000-mile journey are unexpected, sometimes mysterious, and often full of simply the wonder of the ordinary.-- Blue Highways received extraordinary reviews when it was first published: -- The current trade paperback edition (Houghton Mifflin) sells 25,000 copies a year but will be out of print by August 1999.-- Heat Moon's long-awaited next book, River-Horse, will be out in September and will draw much attention to this important author. it will be supported by a 14-city author tour, national advertising, holiday catalogs, and NPR sponsorship.-- This edition of Blue Highways will include a new introduction by the author. (less)

Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroa... (more)

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. (less)