Red Highways: A Liberal's Journey Into the Heartland

by Rose Aguilar

This book, Red Highways , explores sound bites and statistics to reveal what red-state voters really care about and what they expect from their political leaders. It is a riveting examination of what matters most in the heartland, what makes it tick, and what issues get its citizens to vote.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

229 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2008

About the author

Rose Aguilar is a radio host and journalist from San Francisco. She currently hosts Your Call, a daily public affairs radio show on NPR-affiliate KALW 91.7 FM. Your Call features in-depth conversations about everything from the Iraq war and poverty to the environment and the arts. Aguilar is a contributor to the book, Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland. She also writes for Alternet and offers political analysis for the BBC."

Reviews

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to Rose speak at Wordstock, a book convention in Portland at the beginning of November. I was impressed with her passion and decided to buy her book and get it signed. That turned out to be $16 and 15 minutes well spent.

It took me a little while to get into Red Highways, but about a third of the way through I was hooked. Rose's personal transformation became evident in her writing. It seemed that she really began to listen — and I mean really listen, not just hear — what people were saying. She collected a huge range of opinions and voices...it gives me goosebumps thinking about the incredible number of thoughtful people who are recorded here. I think this is an important book given our country's obsession with political leanings. It illustrates that we are more purple than we think.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

so while at the end of a book like this, i dont feel like my political framework or overall sense of the world has shifted drastically, i still enjoyed the read. mostly, though, it makes me wonder how i can get funding to drive around the country for 6 months and talk to people...

[Kim Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This chronicle of NPR radio host Rose Aguilar's road trip through four red states sheds some light on the thinking of people in the heartland. Having realized that she lives in a political bubble in San Francisco, Aguilar journeys to Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Montana to chat with people about their views on social and political issues.

Along the way, she visits fire-and-brimstone churches as well as the largest gay church in the country. She goes to a gun show, visits the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, and chats with conservative environmentalists, veterans, and split-party couples. The strength of the book is that it shows the complexity and diversity of thought within the red states, areas that are largely drawn in caricature by the media. Many of the Republicans (and Democrats) she interviews stray in one way or many from the party line, have harsh criticisms of their party, and have even changed parties over the years. Aguilar also does a good job of showing how federal policy (particularly under Bush) has affected people's everyday lives and their feelings about it.

Interestingly, the book reveals as much about Aguilar's own biases (and certainly those of her comically self-righteous boyfriend, who's along for the ride). Her interviews with various people, more often than not, devolve into prostheletyzing, which is unfortunate, because the reader is left wondering what might have been revealed in a more natural conversation. In some cases, she clearly opts for being provocative rather than journalistic. She even wears her Veggie Heaven t-shirt to a rodeo, quite the a-hole move. (And I say that as someone who's been a vegetarian for 30 years and is no fan of rodeos.)

Still, an enlightening and even hopeful read. This book came out in 2008, so it would be interesting to know if and how the climate has changed since then.

[Alex Templeton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am glad that someone finally engaged in a project like this, and published the results. Essentially, Aguilar traveled to five different red states, interviewed ordinary folks about their politics, and wrote up the results. What clearly becomes clear is that peoples' politics are much more nuanced than our media and our own stereotypes let on. Republicans aren't fire-breathing devils, and liberals aren't always the perfect examples of tolerance (see Aguilar's boyfriend's refusal to listen to many of her subjects as a good example of this). I believe this is an important book, as every so often we liberals need a kick in the head to get us out of our own judgmental and stereotyping tendencies.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I was excited about the concept but was continually disappointed while I read it. Rose (and her boyfriend Ryan) never give the reader the impression that they are truly open-minded. They would not bend from their ideology and political beliefs -- and you never got the impression that they really cared to understand the points of view of others. It felt like a voyeuristic trip on their part, not an adventure to understand.

[Kelly Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I picked it up because it included a chapter on Oklahoma, and I was curious to see what a liberal outsider would find there. The premise of the book is that a radio host based in San Francisco is just baffled at how so many of the red states vote against their own interests again and again. So she decided to get out there and ask, by interviewing all sorts of real people. She had a very good attitude while traveling--she's not confrontational and goes to great lengths to let people really speak, but she does ask challenging questions. And I feel like her rendition of what they say is very reliable. A lot of her interviews in the South are with church leaders and church-goers, which is right-on since that's the majority of people there. Church is hugely important in the South. But fortunately, she doesn't confine herself to church people, which is good because she occasionally gets a totally different and surprising response. What comes out of the book mostly is that there is great diversity in the red states. It's not that every person agrees with everything on the Republican platform, but that most people agree with at least a couple issues they consider critically important, and that's what keeps them voting that way. But in a lot of ways it's still depressing because of what those issues are.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting ride but manages to be neither inspiring about the untapped human potential in this country nor a wake-up call to get out of our bubbles and shake things up. How exactly? The big story when Rose Aguilar did the trip was the Bush Administration betraying its base. Now the big story is the Democrats betraying theirs. That people in the red states actually recognize this, but like the rest of us, have no real answers for it, should only come as a surprise to elitist liberals.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great true story about a vegan, liberal, San Francisco reporter and her equally liberal meat-eating boyfriend through America's so-called "Red States." Rose and Ryan meet fellow Americans who are supposed to be as different as can be from themselves, but find out that there's not just red and blue people in the red and blue states.

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just read the intro which sounds a lot like "Nickel and Dimed." Is it worth plowing through, book club gang? Do weigh in.