The Longest Road: Overland in Search of America, from Key West to the Arctic Ocean

From a Pulitzer Prize winner, "[an] engaging travelogue of a remarkable journey packed with plenty of intriguing tidbits for armchair travelers" (TheBoston Globe).

Standing on a wind-scoured island off the Alaskan coast, Philip Caputo marveled that its Inupiat Eskimo schoolchildren pledge allegiance to the same flag as the children of Cuban immigrants in Key West, six thousand miles away. And a question began to take shape: How does the United States, peopled by every race on earth, remain united? Caputo resolved to drive from the nation's southernmost point to the northernmost point reachable by road, talking to everyday Americans about their lives and asking how they would answer his question.

So it was that in 2011, Caputo, his wife, and their two English setters made their way in a truck and classic trailer from Key West, Florida, to Deadhorse, Alaska, covering 16,000 miles. He spoke to everyone from a West Virginia couple saving souls to a Native American shaman and taco entrepreneur. What he found is a story that will entertain and inspire readers as much as it informs them about the state of today's United States, the glue that holds us all together, and the conflicts that could cause us to pull apart.

"Pure joy. The Longest Road is the best thing to come along since Blue Highways and Travels with Charley." —Doug Stanton, New York Times–bestselling author of In Harm's Way

"Caputo snares reading devotees of a classic American theme, the road trip." —Booklist, starred review

"Always engaging and frequently reassuring." —Publishers Weekly

"[Caputo] keeps the narrative moving with his observant eye and mordant sense of humor." —The New York Times Book Review

© 2024 Henry Holt and Co. (Ebook): 9780805096965

Release date

Ebook: 4 June 2024