Driving Lessons : A Road Trip Through American Travel Literature.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Strain, Christopher B.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Travel writing--United States--History.

Travel writing.

Travel in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (216 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, 2025.

Summary:

""Driving Lessons: A Road Trip through American Travel Literature" by Christopher B. Strain is a study of American travel literature, specifically a reflection on the tradition of the American road trip. Strain sets out to understand what makes this custom a prototypically American one, who travels, and why, through considerations of race, class, and gender. "Driving Lessons" not only contextualizes earlier American travel narratives, but also shows how these journeys of national discovery and personal redemption still resonate with readers and scholars. The book deftly blends together the story of the author's own four-month sojourn in an old van with the analysis of his literary predecessors' travel narratives"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction: Road to Nowhere

1. The Trip

2. Into the Wild

3. The Legend of Lawnchair Larry, American Hero

4. The M-Factor

5. The Ghosts of Montana

6. On the Road in Yellowstone

7. Land Bad

8. Crossing Over

9. Homeward Bound

10. The Last Road Trip

Acknowledgments

Appendix

Notes

Works Cited

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780817395490

0817395490

OCLC:

1503843562