America the beautiful? :

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Title :

America the beautiful? : one woman in a borrowed Prius on the road most traveled / Blythe Roberson.

Title:

America the beautiful? :

Author:

Roberson, Blythe

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

viii, 294 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

ISBN:

9780063115514

9780063273405

Production / Publication Information:

New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2023]

Contents:

Introduction: It's a free country -- Part I: the plains -- Hermergency ; Somewhat complex flesh machine ; This one's hard ; Leaves of gas, grass, or ass ; Part II: the intermountain west -- A weird cactus doing really well for itself ; Why isn't this rock famous? ; Wedgie test ; Where do they put the bison at night? ; Be respectful for fuck's safe ; Part III: the west coast -- Heroic nature adventurer ; Living the life of a normal human ; No offense to clouds ; Against stripping Yosemite for parts ; The national parks suck ass ; Part IV: The Southwest -- See trees while trees still exist ; Watching, screaming ; Okay, Marfa slaps ; Returning to the toilet women.

Summary:

"The author of How to Date Men When You Hate Men examines Americans' obsession with freedom, travel, and the open road in this funny, entertaining travelogue that blends the humorous observations of Bill Bryson with the piercing cultural commentary of Jia Tolentino"--

Roberson examines Americans' obsession with freedom, travel, and the open road. To fill her own sense of adventure, she quit her day job and set off on a Great American Road Trip to visit America's national parks. Along the way she met new friends on their own quests, learned to cope with abstinence while missing the comforts of home, and came to understand the limits-- and possibilities-- of going to nature to prove to yourself (and your Instagram followers) that you are, in fact, free. -- adapted from jacket

Language:

English

Genre:

Travel writing.

Geographic Term:

United States -- Description and travel.

Personal Subject:

Roberson, Blythe-Travel-United States.

Subject Term:

National parks and reserves -- United States.

Automobile travel -- United States.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	917.304 ROB	31330009351077	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Carlisle - Gleason Public Library	917.3 ROB	32117002176653	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lawrence Public Library	917.304 ROB	31549004996392	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Merrimac Public Library	910 AME 2023 TRAVEL	32125001337713	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	917.304 ROB	32128004199577	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	917.304 ROB	31990005250738	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Wilmington Memorial Library	917.304 ROB	32136003604760	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Best Book of the Year --NPR, Vulture, Book Riot, B&N

"America the Beautiful? is so funny and special and illuminating that it makes even me, a person who cannot tolerate trees or weather, wish I could've tagged along in the back seat." -- Samantha Irby, author of Wow, No Thank You. and We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.

The author of How to Date Men When You Hate Men examines Americans' obsession with freedom, travel, and the open road in this funny, entertaining travelogue that blends the humorous observations of Bill Bryson with the piercing cultural commentary of Jia Tolentino.

For writer and comedian Blythe Roberson, there are only so many Mary Oliver poems you can read about being free, and only so many times you can listen to Joni Mitchell's travel album Hejira, before you too, are itching to take off. Canonical American travel writers have long celebrated the road trip as the epitome of freedom. But why does it seem like all those canonical travel narratives are written by white men who have no problems, who only decide to go the desert to see what having problems feels like?

To fill in the literary gaps and quench her own sense of adventure, Roberson quits her day job and sets off on a Great American Road Trip to visit America's national parks.

America the Beautiful? is a hilarious trip into the mind of one of the Millennial generation's funniest writers. Borrowing her Midwestern stepfather's Prius, she heads west to the Loop of mega-popular parks, over to the ocean and down the Pacific Coast Highway, and, in a feat of spectacularly bad timing, through the southwestern desert in the middle of July. Along the way she meets new friends on their own personal quests, learns to cope with abstinence while missing the comforts of home, and comes to understand the limits--and possibilities--of going to nature to prove to yourself and your Instagram followers that you are, in fact, free.

The result is a laugh-out-loud-while-occasionally-raging-inside travelogue, filled with meditations and many, many jokes on ecotourism, conservation, freedom, traffic, climate change, and the structural and financial inequalities that limit so many Americans' movement. Ultimately, Roberson ponders the question: Is quitting society and going on the road about enlightenment and liberty--or is it just selfish escapism?

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Comedy writer Roberson (How to Date Men When You Hate Men) quit her Late Show with Stephen Colbert job to visit national parks and--despite naysayers insisting she was "going to get murdered"--lived to tell the tale in this wobbly seriocomic travelogue. Taking her "Great American Road Trip" in the spring and summer of 2019, 30-something Roberson believed that "if I let myself be truly present, something alchemical might happen" to her generational malaise. She started at Lake Superior's Isle Royale, "the least visited national park in the contiguous United States," and awarded herself Junior Ranger badges along the rest of her odyssey, a gimmicky "organizing principle" that detracts from Roberson's more serious-minded considerations of global warming, the displacement of indigenous peoples, and how influencers cause overcrowding at national parks. Side trips to Los Angeles ("to take meetings") and art mecca Marfa, Tex., land less like unplugging and more like "I-hang-with-the-cool-kids" striving, and Roberson overall struggles to mold her experiences into a coherent narrative. She's undoubtedly funny and great on a line level, but jokes alone don't save this meandering memoir. Agent: Dana Murphy, the Book Group. (Apr.)

Kirkus Review

A Brooklyn-based humor writer and comedian travels the U.S. seeking freedom and adventure. In her latest book, Roberson, author of How To Date Men When You Hate Men, recounts her trip across the country with the goal of writing "a female American travel narrative" in the vein of those written by Jack Kerouac. "My book," she writes, "would answer the question: what if Bill Bryson got his period?" Despite safety warnings from her family and friends, Roberson quit her job and ventured out in a borrowed Toyota Prius, traveling predominately west across the U.S., hitting popular national parks along the way. Though she set out to chronicle the next Great American Road Trip, "acquiring Junior Ranger badges was the organizing principle of my trip." At each destination, Roberson gives brief, occasionally intriguing details about the history and wildlife of the area, but she seems more content completing the activities in the Junior Ranger booklet than deeply experiencing each region. Most of her stops involved a short hike, where she wanders the landscape and flirts with park rangers, before dashing off to her next location. Throughout the narrative, Roberson shares information she learned regarding the effects of climate change and offers well-intentioned yet overly familiar, surface-level critical discussions of the European genocide of Indigenous peoples in North America. Further, she questions the morality of visiting national parks, including the part she is playing. Though she contends that one should not feel guilty for enjoying the national park system, "we should work toward returning control of the parks to Native Americans." While many of her political and environmental points have validity, few of them are novel. The author's goal of writing a memorable female American travel narrative is commendable, but she tries to accomplish too much, skating across numerous themes and tones, resulting in a book that fails to leave a lasting impression. An admirable work that falls short of its goal. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Comedy writer and author Roberson (How to Date Men When You Hate Men, 2019) offers an American travel narrative with a humorous, feminist edge, chronicling a solo road trip in her stepdad's old black Prius. She wants to free camp on government land along the way. The universal response to this independent, optimistic plan? "You'll get murdered." Spoiler alert: she does not. She optimizes her route for visiting the most national parks, committing to earning a Junior Ranger badge at every park she visits, which gives her otherwise free-form road trip some structure. Her dogged badge quest involves new, sometimes awkward learning experiences that provoke some bemusement from park rangers and bystanders alike. Charms of the road include bougie breakfasts and unexpected "tofu-based amenities." Trials: few showers and "atrocity-level" bathrooms. Beauty in the form of artists' palette colors, lofty sand dunes, and ghost town hospitality wins the day. Readers riding shotgun will relish this long, strange trip while enjoying Roberson's rants, realizations, and discoveries of wonder.

Introduction: It's a Free Country	1
Part I The Plains	9
1 Hermergency	11
2 Somewhat Complex Flesh Machine	26
3 This One's Hard	48
4 Leaves of Gas, Grass, or Ass	60
Part II The Inter Mountain West	69
5 A Weird Cactus Doing Really Well for Itself	71
6 Why isn't This Rock Famous?	83
7 Wedgie Test	95
8 Where Do They Put the Bison at Night?	113
9 Be Respectful for Fuck's Sake	127
Part III The West Coast	145
10 Heroic Nature Adventurer	147
11 Living the Life of a Normal Human	162
12 No Offense to Clouds	181
13 Against Stripping Yosemite for Parts	194
14 The National Parks Suck Ass	207
Part IV The Southwest	223
15 See Trees While Trees Still Exist	225
16 Watching, Screaming	247
17 Okay, Marfa Slaps	261
18 Returning to the Toilet Women	281
Acknowledgments	293

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Table of Contents