the national road dispatches from a changing america

'The question of who we are as a people eludes a definitive answer, but his collection of essays offers a penetrating look at that controversial, sometimes nettlesome question.

this road of constant change is our blotchy and beautiful inheritance.' The National Road is an enthralling journey that proves his point.' -Martha Anne Toll, NPR Zoellner sums up America as 'a country of destruction and reinvention where the scythe sits on the table next to the blueprint. 'A fascinating investigation into American places and themes metaphors for our country. Zoellner is a beautiful writer, a superb reporter and a deep thinker.' -Jody Rosen, The New York Times Book Review 'A sneakily ambitious book whose 13 'dispatches' present a sweeping view of the American land and its inhabitants―how each has shaped, and deformed, the other. What does it mean when a nation accustomed to moving begins to settle down, when political discord threatens unity, and when technology disrupts traditional ways of building communities? Is a shared soil enough to reinvigorate a national spirit?įrom the embaattled newsrooms of small town newspapers to the pornography film sets of the Los Angeles basin, from the check–out lanes of Dollar General to the holy sites of Mormonism, from the nation’s highest peaks to the razed remains of a cherished home, like a latter–day Woody Guthrie, Tom Zoellner takes to the highways and byways of a vast land in search of the soul of its people.īy turns nostalgic and probing, incisive and enraged, Zoellner’s reflections reveal a nation divided by faith, politics, and shifting economies, but––more importantly––one united by a shared sense of ownership in the common land. “How was it possible, I wondered, that all of this American land––in every direction––could be fastened together into a whole?” This collection of 'eloquent essays that examine the relationship between the American landscape and the national character' serves to remind us that despite our differences we all belong to the same land ( Publishers Weekly).

The national road dispatches from a changing america