Buzzell bought a classic car and set out from his home in San Francisco to drive across America with no specific destination. He chose seedy hotels and even seedier bars on his journey. He apparently alternated between being drunk and hung over. The book opens with the illness and death of his mother, and closes with a description of his son's birth. Both events set this journey of discovery in motion.

Buzzell explores and photographs once magnificent buildings, now abandone and decrepit. These buildings become metaphors for the once bustling, alive cities of America. Buzzell chats up people on the street, always drawn to the "bad side of town." He uncovers despair and apathy, and comes to the conclusion that there is no longer a middle class in the United States.

His sharp powers of observation and keen wit make this memoir a fascinating read.