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In this unique work of photography and writing, readers embark on a road trip unlike any other that spans 900 days and 93,000 miles. During the duration of this monumental trip, the author conducted 140 interviews in an effort to discover what interconnections exist between people in a world of disrupted relationships. The book follows the author’s cross-country journey after he and his wife sold their Minnesota home in order to spend their time on the road, interviewing people of various backgrounds and searching for stories of hope, healing, and resilience. The author emphasizes that one doesn't "have to drive 93,000 miles to find stories like these” because there is “wisdom and beauty all around us if we choose to see it.”
Noltner's work provides a unique look at Americans and American society during a time in which America stood at a turning point, and society seemed more divided than ever. The book opens with the author’s story of being a Christmas tree farmer in western Wisconsin and making the decision to travel full-time across the United States. In the book’s initial pages, readers also meet Joseph McGill, the history and cultural coordinator for Magnolia Plantation and founder of The Slave Dwelling Project. In Joe’s story, one feels “the echoes of humanity” as Joe shares what it is like to work in such a position as his. From this point, the book features a wide array of unique characters, like Natalie Brewster Nguyen—a mother, artist, and sex worker who advocates for the rights of sex workers. The book also includes the stories of immigrants like Alvaro Enciso, who places crosses in the Sonoran Desert where migrants die. This practice of honoring the dead “has increased his sense of compassion and connected him more deeply to his own humanity.”
What this book adeptly captures is America’s diversity of cultures, ethnicities, practices, customs, and beliefs. In turn, the work becomes a celebration of the diverse people who compose the United States. The insightful essays and interviews also show how those individuals’ stories ultimately write America’s story and, therefore, everyone’s experiences thread together to form the tapestry that is the United States. Nonetheless, the focus here is not entirely on people. Throughout the work, readers discover gorgeous landscape photos that show them America’s deep forests and rugged coastlines, as well as the unique ecosystems that comprise its waterways. Thus, readers see that America’s landscapes also inform its identity and the identities of those who inhabit its unique spaces.
This book’s focus on building strong communities encourages people to “deeply listen” and challenge their own expectations. Most of all, it encourages them to keep “showing up for one another.” The intimate revelations of those individuals featured in this book remind us that we are “all a little more connected than we understood.” It encourages readers to look beyond their differences, “love one another,” and closely examine the events that have made people understand the world the way that they do. For those looking for a new way to explore American geography and American culture, this book offers a unique travel adventure that they will not find anywhere else.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
A 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award Art Category Honorable Mention