As he crisscrosses America — driving in search of the present, the past, and himself — Larry McMurtry shares his fascination with this nation’s great trails and the lifestyle that has developed around them.

Since he was a young man growing up in Texas only a mile from Highway 281, Larry McMurtry has felt the pull of the street. His city was completely landlocked, making the highway his ‘river, its concealed reaches a mystery and an enticement. I started my entire life beside it and I want to drift down about Highways the entire amount of it before I end this publication.’

In Highways, McMurtry embarks on the cross-country trip where his route is also his destination. As he drives, McMurtry reminisces about the locations he’s seen, individuals he’s met, and the books he’s browse, including a lot more than 3,000 books about travel. He points out why watching episodes from the Mary Tyler Moore Display might be the best way to discover joie de vivre in Minnesota; the scenic variations between Path 35 and I-801; which vigilantes lived in Montana and which hailed from Idaho; and the annals of Lewis and Clark, Sitting Bull, and Custer that still haunts Route 2 today.

As it makes its way from South Florida to North Dakota, from eastern Long Island to Oregon, Roads is travel writing at its best.