A book that describes Heat-Moon's 13,000 mile journey exploring the backroads of the United States.
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Jan 19, 2012
Evan
rated it: 
I feel awfully guilty not taking the time to give back to this book what it gave to me; its carefully shaped and caressed words of observation and wisdom. It deserves much more, but, like Heat-Moon, I am on my own journey right now, writing my own inner book. In it, he sets out in a spartan van named "Ghost Dancing," roughly following the "blue highways" (the most rural of rural roads) along the entire border of the Lower 48 to discover himself, the country, or, whatever, aft
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Jun 22, 2007
Jason
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the classic hippie travel tale of a shrinking rural america, far from feeling dated blue highways seems to become more and more relevant with each passing generation. heat-moon (a professor at my college, the university of missouri, in the '80s when i was a student) traveled the country in the 1970s taking only the "blue highways" of his antique road map -- the non-interstate back roads, that is. what he found was a cultural america rapidly disappearing, being replaced with the ka-chin
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Dec 17, 2009
Ruth
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Author Bill Trogden/Least Heat-Moon travels across America in the 1980s, travelling via the highways marked in blue on the map. These smaller roards take him into out-of-the way communities far away from the interstates. This is a really fascinating read, giving you a look at bits and pieces of America from North to South and East to West. I imagine much of it has since vanished. The travelogue is skillfully interspersed with Trogden's own personal struggles: he decides to take the trip because
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May 04, 2011
Scott
rated it: 
What a huge disappointment.
I am predisposed to enjoy this kind of book. I love to travel and to take the roads less traveled. I've been to many places in America and I throughly enjoy exploring everywhere I haven't yet been. Back in High School, I would read Michael Crichton's Travels, some parts many times over, just imagining what it would be like to be able to visit the places he wrote about. Since then, I've read quite a few recollections of random journeys...and I can safely s More...
I am predisposed to enjoy this kind of book. I love to travel and to take the roads less traveled. I've been to many places in America and I throughly enjoy exploring everywhere I haven't yet been. Back in High School, I would read Michael Crichton's Travels, some parts many times over, just imagining what it would be like to be able to visit the places he wrote about. Since then, I've read quite a few recollections of random journeys...and I can safely s More...
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 06, 2009
James
rated it:
Ugh...
I didn't mind Into the Wild, and I couldn't make it through Zen & the Art....
But when I think back, what I liked about ItW, the most, was when he was working in the fields in Idaho.
And it was written by Krakauer -not first person.
So, here's one of the other warhorses of the male-discovery-road-trip canon.
In discussing reading this book with other people, one person pointed out that what makes for interesting discovery-road-trip More...
I didn't mind Into the Wild, and I couldn't make it through Zen & the Art....
But when I think back, what I liked about ItW, the most, was when he was working in the fields in Idaho.
And it was written by Krakauer -not first person.
So, here's one of the other warhorses of the male-discovery-road-trip canon.
In discussing reading this book with other people, one person pointed out that what makes for interesting discovery-road-trip More...
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Jan 19, 2008
Steve
rated it:
Actually, I first read this book about 15 years ago, but I was sick, it was there, and one thing leads to another..
The first time I read this, it was a great road trip, full of interesting places to visit and cool people to talk to and relics of a disappearing America. Now I'm older and much closer to the author's age when he wrote this, and a bit more familiar with how things don't always work out the way you expect.
It's still a great book, but the extra layer of the pe More...
The first time I read this, it was a great road trip, full of interesting places to visit and cool people to talk to and relics of a disappearing America. Now I'm older and much closer to the author's age when he wrote this, and a bit more familiar with how things don't always work out the way you expect.
It's still a great book, but the extra layer of the pe More...
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Jun 19, 2008
Blueskies18
rated it: 
Another travelog. A little slow and quite serious. Yet I learned a few things and found myself consulting goodgle maps to locate some of the more interesting small towns he encountered. But it took me a long time to finish it. I could only handle a half dozen pages at one sitting. I like travelogs, but I prefer Bill Bryson's books because I can breeze through them as if I were reading a 'beach book' with interesting information and a bunch of belly laughs to boot. No one does it better tha
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Jan 21, 2012
Thirteenth Peer
rated it:
I have wanted to read this book for a long time but also have kind of avoided it because I worried it would be boring. I enjoyed it a lot when I finally got around to it. I thought he succeeded in meeting interesting people and describing them in an engaging way. Although there is worthwhile reflection on what he's experiencing it's kept pretty minimal. He keeps the experiences themselves very much in the foreground. It was also interesting to compare with my own travels which have been muc
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Jan 12, 2012
Marc
rated it:
A brilliant piece. The author has a way of letting the people's voices simmer through in his text. Their sentiments ring true and clear. A big volume, but well worth the effort.
The author circumnavigates the U.S.A. (clockwise, or to the right) in a 1975 boogie van Ghost Dancing (2 legs; 4 wheels). I had one just like it in the 70s and 80s. From the publication date, I guess his trip took place 'round about late 70s or so. Especially good reading given the political situation to More...
The author circumnavigates the U.S.A. (clockwise, or to the right) in a 1975 boogie van Ghost Dancing (2 legs; 4 wheels). I had one just like it in the 70s and 80s. From the publication date, I guess his trip took place 'round about late 70s or so. Especially good reading given the political situation to More...
Dec 13, 2011
Ensiform
rated it: 
The author, an English teacher of Sioux descent, loses his job and his wife, and decides to tour the small towns of America. The blue highways, as he calls them, are the back roads, compared to the red highways on maps (that’s changed now, of course). Taking along nothing much, he sleeps in his truck, talking with the people about their lives, the past, their local history, their philosophies, etc.
Quoting Whitman and American Indian creeds every few pages, he makes his own views pret More...
Quoting Whitman and American Indian creeds every few pages, he makes his own views pret More...
Jul 29, 2011
I thought that I would – for reasons unbeknownst to me – share my opinions of the book I just finished. In William Least Heat Moon’s classic 1982 book Blue Highways: A Journey Into America, the author loses his job and his wife and decides to travel around America to clear his head. He stays away from the interstates and large cities. He drives the narrow highways and talks to people he meets in places like Ninety Six, South Carolina and Liberty Bond, Washington.
What results is a very enjoyable More...
What results is a very enjoyable More...
Mar 28, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
William Least-Heat Moon, writes of a journey taken away from the "interstates" of the human experience. In the near-forgotten places and continental corners he passes through, life manages to persist in ways that it does not in the change-racked "fast lane" so many of us are swept into. Nearly three decades have passed and the book is no less relevant in what it says about modernity: In the chain-store franchise, places increasingly appear like every other place, and local co
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Feb 07, 2011
Mrs. Foley
rated it:
This book by local author, William Least Heat Moon, was recently discussed by our Faculty Book Group. I could have spent the entire time talking about it and quoting from it. It gives such a great picture of the average American living in the small towns across the nation. Worth reading!
Review from Amazon.com
First published in 1982, William Least Heat-Moon's account of his journey along the back roads of the United States (marked with the color blue on old highway maps) has b More...
Review from Amazon.com
First published in 1982, William Least Heat-Moon's account of his journey along the back roads of the United States (marked with the color blue on old highway maps) has b More...
Jan 27, 2011
Le strade blu sono quelle vie secondarie degli Stati Uniti che difficilmente appaiono sulle cartine. Strade blu è anche il titolo di un libro di William Least Heat-Moon. Un libro uscito nel 1989. Tanti anni fa, quindi. Tanti anni, forse troppi. Non ricordo nemmeno più il motivo per cui me lo procurai e del perché me lo lessi d'un fiato. Forse cercavo delle risposte (quante risposte cerchiamo mai, nei libri che leggiamo). Oppure volevo semplicemente unire altre domande alla teoria infinita di que
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Jan 26, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
I have mixed feelings about this book. It has taken me forever to read, and not because I was just savoring it. It's not a particularly long book, I could just only stand to read so much of it at a time. Least Heat Moon tells interesting stories and meets some fabulous people in this journey, but he tends to be long-winded.
After losing his wife and his job, and figuring he has nothing holding him back, William Least Heat Moon turns his van into a somewhat camper and decides to just dri More...
After losing his wife and his job, and figuring he has nothing holding him back, William Least Heat Moon turns his van into a somewhat camper and decides to just dri More...
Jun 05, 2009
When on the same day in 1978 William Least Heat Moon finds out that he has lost his job and that his wife is leaving him for good, he decides to walk away from his life and hit the road. Outfitting a junky old van with a cot, makeshift bathroom, and portable stove, he sets out on a journey across America with just $428 in his pocket. Sticking only to what he calls “blue highways,” the small rural backroads (in his atlas these secondary highways are marked in blue ink) linking the nation’s small
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Mar 04, 2010
Pat
rated it:
In search of the real America, or in need of escape, the author sets out to circle the country in a van, staying only on the state and local roads - the one's that appear blue on his maps. This is something I've always wanted to do and what drew me to this book. This is the record of what he saw on his trip, from the deep South to the Pacific Northwest, fishermen to farmers, through forests, snowstorms, deserts, and beaches.
However, sometimes the author seems overly sentimental, bemo More...
However, sometimes the author seems overly sentimental, bemo More...
Jul 27, 2011
I came across this book while leaning on a bookshelf at a coffee shop open mic night, listening to the loveably mediocre performances of everything from acoustic Chinese folk songs to the "BIA Blues." The description looked interesting and I kept thinking about it, so I came back the next day and bought it. I mention this because I think it would please William Least-Heat Moon.
I loved Blue Highways, although I'm not sure why: there is no plot in the sense of action rising to a climax More...
I loved Blue Highways, although I'm not sure why: there is no plot in the sense of action rising to a climax More...
Mar 23, 2011
Ocean
rated it:
this is a poetically written, sparse-yet-beautiful memoir of a brokenhearted man traveling america's back roads, hanging out in small towns and talking to random people. each chapter is really short, but full of beautiful, odd and stunning lines. i liked it for that, and also because i'd like to go on a journey like that, but i can't: i don't know how to drive. i've travelled the country extensively before, but it's always been on a bus or in a car with other people, never driving aimlessly by m
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Jan 10, 2009
Stephen
rated it:
“Other than to amuse himself, why should a man pretend to know where he’s going or to understand what he sees?” writes author William Least Heat-Moon. Indeed.
On the cover of my copy of Blue Highways, Robert Penn Warren is quoted as calling the book “a masterpiece.” Yes. It’s a magnificent ramble across America, a visit with some of its most curious places and people. It’s also a journey of self-discovery, made at a time when the author needed to take stock in his life and redirect hi More...
On the cover of my copy of Blue Highways, Robert Penn Warren is quoted as calling the book “a masterpiece.” Yes. It’s a magnificent ramble across America, a visit with some of its most curious places and people. It’s also a journey of self-discovery, made at a time when the author needed to take stock in his life and redirect hi More...
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Nov 27, 2009
Joe
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I love this book because Mr Least Heat-Moon describes a trip I've been dreaming of taking forever: driving around the backroads of the entire country with no particular plan other than to eat good foods, meet folks, and learn about different cultures. One thing I would do differently is stop in more cities to take in some music and arts and baseball games and added variety. Oh and I'd want to invite some friends and family to join for parts of the trip. Because after 300 pages his small town st
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Apr 29, 2009
When I'm not traveling, anticipating traveling, or traveling, travelogues are one of my favorite things to read. It occurred to me that I had never read one that involved traveling through the US, so I picked this book up.
The title refers to the smaller, one-lane, back-country highways being depicted in blue on road maps (the interstates represented with red). Heat-Moon was experiencing a turbulent time in his personal life, and decided to take some time to see if he could travel a More...
The title refers to the smaller, one-lane, back-country highways being depicted in blue on road maps (the interstates represented with red). Heat-Moon was experiencing a turbulent time in his personal life, and decided to take some time to see if he could travel a More...
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Mar 11, 2009
Steve
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"When a man can’t make things go right, he can at least go."
After experiencing some personal setbacks, William Least Heat-Moon traveled in a circle through America, doing a more-than-decent job of chronicling his adventure and encounters. In the end, he admits he didn't do as much self-discovery as he'd hoped, but the journey was worthwhile and pretty interesting for us, the readers.
I appreciated Heat-Moon's style, which I think included the right ratio of actua More...
After experiencing some personal setbacks, William Least Heat-Moon traveled in a circle through America, doing a more-than-decent job of chronicling his adventure and encounters. In the end, he admits he didn't do as much self-discovery as he'd hoped, but the journey was worthwhile and pretty interesting for us, the readers.
I appreciated Heat-Moon's style, which I think included the right ratio of actua More...
Jun 27, 2007
Jonathan
rated it:
I'm re-reading this book probably 10 years after I first read it. There's something about road stories that draw me in, but this does something more. It boils down the essence of what life is like along the rural paths like the one I grew up on.
The writing is direct and beautiful, full of wonderful reporting.
This is a book anyone who loves non-fiction writing should read immediately.
The writing is direct and beautiful, full of wonderful reporting.
This is a book anyone who loves non-fiction writing should read immediately.
Jun 14, 2011
Tom
rated it:
The Good: A 13,000 mile, three month journey using U.S. and State Routes (and on a rare occasion, the interstate). Least Heat Moon experiences a vivid collection of people, personalities and locations on his journey. His descriptions of the people he meets are fantastic, and he captures their regional linguistic quirks perfectly. He also provides detailed information in the roads he used, so you can follow along on a map. It's interesting to see some of the places he describes in 1978 on Google
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Aug 16, 2011
Bill
rated it:
This book has been on my "to read" list for at least ten years. Finally got around to it. Unfortunately, it's now a bit dated. Fortunately, it captures a picture of America we've probably mostly destroyed by this point.
Newly divorced, without a job, William Least Heat-Moon gets in his van, named Ghost Dancing, and hits the "blue highways," those roads on the map drawn in blue, unlike the major roads which are red. Obviously, this is before the time of GPS! He stops at dozens More...
Newly divorced, without a job, William Least Heat-Moon gets in his van, named Ghost Dancing, and hits the "blue highways," those roads on the map drawn in blue, unlike the major roads which are red. Obviously, this is before the time of GPS! He stops at dozens More...
Jan 10, 2012
Kati
rated it:
This is the book I was thinking of writing four years ago, except I hadn't just been laid off from my job and lost my marriage partner. Okay, there are some other differences too.
William Least Heat Moon gets bad news in February and in March he heads out on the open road, but just the open back road. Eschewing federal interstates he travels a circuitous route around the country, meeting fascinating people, seeing crazy things and having adventures. And also experiencing the mundane. Le More...
William Least Heat Moon gets bad news in February and in March he heads out on the open road, but just the open back road. Eschewing federal interstates he travels a circuitous route around the country, meeting fascinating people, seeing crazy things and having adventures. And also experiencing the mundane. Le More...
Nov 28, 2011
Sue
rated it:
Written in the early 1980's, the author details his journey across America after losing his job and realizing his separation with his wife is more permanent than expected. He follows, not the big highways, but the roads off the beaten path meeting unique people & discovering "places" worth exploring and writing about all of it with humor and insight. In Georgia, he stays at a Trappist Monastary where he questions one of the monks on the lifestyle. Brother Patrick tells him (pg88)"
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Jan 10, 2010
Richard
rated it:
When I first read the title 'Blue Highways' I thought the memoir was about a 'blue' or depressed author who decides to wanders around the US...Well, kind of, but not quite. In Blue Highways William Least Heat-Moon decides to travel around the country after seperating from his wife and losing his teaching job. His mode of transportation is an old van he named Ghost Dancing. Why 'Blue Highways'? According to the author, old highway maps represented back roads in blue...
The memoir is m More...
The memoir is m More...
Feb 02, 2012
Carolyn
rated it:
Blue Highways is a wonderfully balanced road trip novel. Our narrator, after discussing his trials and tribulations only minimally, sets off in his van, 'Ghost Dancing' to find America and himself. Cheesy, right? Not in the least. WIlliam Least Heat Moon does not delve into his sorrows, does not dwell on his troubles, does not veer towards the self indulgent tripe that travel novels can be. A travel story is always 'the search for self', and while Moon certainly inserts enough of himself into th
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