Comments on: Reading and driving...

Question: Reading and driving...

troublemenot — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:46:13 -0800

Please recommend region-specific literary or fun or literary-fun audiobooks for a long road trip. Thus far I have The Great Plains by Ian Frazier, for when I'm driving across the Great Plains. And American Gods by Neil Gaiman, for when I'm headed to the House on the Rock in Wisconsin. Driving from NYC to LA to Portland, Oregon. Anything but James Michener would be very welcome! (Not knocking James Michener, he's just not my favorite)

By: perhapses

perhapses — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:51:16 -0800

Sometime a Great Notion by Ken Kesey when you get to Oregon.

By: purpleclover

purpleclover — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:51:35 -0800

Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather for driving across New Mexico.

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:00:22 -0800

Desert Solitaire for Utah.

By: Jakey

Jakey — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:24:37 -0800

The Grapes of Wrath for going westbound from Oklahoma or in California.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:27:59 -0800

What's the route? That affects things.

By: plastic_animals

plastic_animals — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:55:51 -0800

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock if you're driving through rural southern Ohio. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson if you're on the Ohio Turnpike west of Cleveland.

O Pioneers! and My Antonia by Willa Cather through Nebraska.

By: mareli

mareli — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:52:51 -0800

Housekeeping for Idaho. The Jungle for Chicago. Leaving Cheyenne for Wyoming. Bill Bryson for Iowa.

By: brianogilvie

brianogilvie — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:01:02 -0800

If you have any interest in geology (or good stories about it), John McPhee's Annals of the Former World would be great for that trip -- especially any segments along Interstate 80. Start out with In Suspect Terrain, then Basin and Range, possibly Rising from the Plains if you're heading through Colorado and Wyoming (or finish Basin and Range with time to kill), and of course, for the trip from LA to Portland, Assembling California. The people he meets and describes are just as much fun as the geology. In particular, I'll always remember David Love's stories of growing up on the western frontier.

By: Wretch729

Wretch729 — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:42:02 -0800

Bad Land: An American Romance by Johnathan Raban was a fantastic read, but i don't see it anywhere as an audiobook except on cassette. Possibly his newer book, Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings, is also good? It's on Audible.com, if you happen to be headed to Alaska.

By: RedEmma

RedEmma — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:55:51 -0800

For Kansas, Geoff Ryman's Was

Or perhaps Jane Smiley's The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton.

I thoroughly enjoyed both.

By: bluedaisy

bluedaisy — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:55:15 -0800

Powell's bookstore has an interesting list of employee picks for the Pacific Northwest, and I suspect many of their fiction and some non-fiction picks are available as audiobooks. Those would be good options for Oregon and driving around here.

By: colin_l

colin_l — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:03:50 -0800

Jasper Fforde novels make for some silly literary fun. Actually didn't enjoy them in dead tree form, but as audio books for a long trip, they were wonderful.

By: ruhroh

ruhroh — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:09:10 -0800

Any Steinbeck for California (generally Salinas and Monterey area). My favorites are East of Eden, To an Unknown God, Grapes of Wrath, and Tequila Flats.

By: Johnny Wallflower

Johnny Wallflower — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:49:15 -0800

Tim Powers' "Fault Lines" trilogy:

Las Vegas: Last Call
Southern California: Expiration Date
Northern California: Earthquake Weather

By: ryanshepard

ryanshepard — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:55:08 -0800

Cassette-only, as far as I know, but William Least Heat-Moon's Prairyerth is perfect for a long drive across the Plains.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:02:38 -0800

William Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:03:55 -0800

Map of route in Blue Highways.