Storyville, USA

by Dale Peterson

What is a Storyville? Whether you're in Toast, North Carolina, Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky, or Winner, South Dakota, a Storyville is a real town you can find on a map, with a tale behind its quirky name. Covering 20,000 miles of U.S. roads, Dale Peterson drove with his kids, Britt and Bayne, from Start, Louisiana, to Deadhorse, Alaska in search of small-town America in the "garage sale of the open highway." Along the way they explored open spaces, wild places, and country back roads and met people who weren't afraid to talk to one another.

Together, they discovered the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of nearly sixty small towns, as well as the zany stories behind them, guided by an AAA Road Atlas, expert local storytellers, and lots of curiosity. They dipped into Caddo Lake and the everglades of Uncertain, Texas, went a little crazy in Loco, Oklahoma, and learned about bee colonies in Climax, New York. Conversations with townsfolk range from the refrigerator at the center of Noodle, Texas, and the hazards of Accident, Maryland, to issues of civil rights, religion, and environmental preservation. Collected here are the landscapes, landmarks, faces, thoughts, and conversations of a sentimental, idiosyncratic, and often hilarious American odyssey. Storyville, USA is a long, winding trip into the back roads of the country and a longer one into the hinterland of our own hearts.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 1999

Reviews

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the record, I bought this book because I'd recently made a transcontinental journey and had seen some unusually-named towns along the route. I had car trouble so tried to get help in Friendsville (no friendly help there...) and declined to seek help in nearby Accident for obvious reasons. Both were mentioned in passing in the book. I thought it would be a bit nostalgic for me.

It was, a bit.

It was also a whole lot of descriptions of landscapes, airscapes, cars and businesses. Additionally, the riders had to get up and go track down old Earl, been here longer'n anyone, to find out how our town got its name because I don't even know.

Too much of that, really.

I did like the way the author used his approximation of most speakers' way of talking.

I didn't like his repeated, repeated, repeated, repeated, relentlessly repeated what-he-thought-was-clever-word-play. Toward the end, it felt like GAHHHH!

I'm sure some people loved that, but I found a moderate use of his sense of literary greatness quite enough. He went 'WAY over that. Forcing myself to the end of the book felt like a solid achievement because of this.

I give his book a three because it really did have an interesting concept and some of it was enjoyable.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My main complaint about this book is how carried away the author got with puns and other silly word play. At first it was entertaining, but after the third or fourth time, it was already getting annoying. However, I liked the concept, and this is an informative and thorough book. I learned a lot about many places I have never heard of, and by reading about them, I am now wanting to plan my own random road trip. Overall, it was entertaining.

[Cat Rayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up at a library sale and it was worth the few cents paid to bring it home. Granted, I was mostly interested in the towns in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana since a few I have been through ( Cut and Shoot, and Humble, Texas) or have seen the signs directing me there.

It proved a fun romp, more a stream of consciousness narrative of a father and his two kids taking a (haphazard) path through the U.S. They invented a travel game called Storyville and set out to visit the oddly named small towns throughout the country.

It did get a bit tedious, and the author’s puns and word play caused many eyerolls. Like most road trips there were dry spells and occasional boredom. I took a few towns at a time, in no hurry to finish the book, er, trip.

Giving it three stars, really a kind round-up from 2.5. It had it’s whimsy and the family connection were fun.

The irony was not lost they ended the trip in Roads End, Alaska.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a travel log of a Father and his two children whose goal is to travel across the United States in search of town with unique names. When they find the town they work to track down root of how the town was named. I chose this book because when traveling I personally am interested in how towns got their names and came to be. However, this book is just a travel log. It isn't very well written and rambles aimlessly.
I felt like the author went through the synonyms option on word and filled in obscure words descriptions of obscure details.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storyville, USA by Dale Peterson (University of Georgia Press 1999)(973). The author got off the interstate and visited sixty small towns around the country with intriguing or unusual place names such as Climax, New York and Uncertain, Texas. And then he wrote a book about it. My rating: 7/10, finished 2003.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting concept and some interesting stories, but so poorly written I couldn't finish it.

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dale and his son and daughter travel the US and visit towns with unusual names.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is fun as well as informative.