This post is part one of an ongoing series, “ROADTRIPPING,” where I analyze the origin and developments of the century-old American Road Trip phenomenon against the backdrop of an ever-dimming American Dream.
Missed the last post? Go here.
Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (1957) and John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie (1960) are perhaps the two most widely-read accounts of the “road trip” phenomenon as it appears in twentieth-century-America.
The road’s enchantment, however, had captured writers’ attention far before the beatnik generation got loud.
With Sinclair Lewis’s 1919 novella Free Air serving as a baseline, 2020 marks roughly 101 years since the road trip genre made its entrance on the literary scene. This story is an old-style, American everyman’s tale, more remarkable for its literary precedent than mettle. The genre represented a new way of thinking and behaving for Americans, and it’s been well-populated ever since. We’ll get to some of those stories later.
For now, Sinclair Lewis’ novella and Alberta’s van share the American Road, along with a great cloud of other travelers. It’s a kooky bunch. The purpose of this series is to get some of you acquainted. More specifically, I’ll analyze the origin and developments of the century-old American Road Trip phenomenon against the backdrop of an ever-dimming American Dream. I’ll identify the social threads that have already emerged, then do some detective work on the ones that aren’t as clear cut.
Some people we’ll meet and stories we’ll crack open along the way:
Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby
Michelle, Van-Based Freelance Butcher
Remains of Himalayan Pilgrims
Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Falu, Van-Based Music Producer
Stay tuned.
(Salt Lake, 2020)
I read two Sinclair Lewis novels (Main Street and Babbit) recently. Those books are rich! I'll have to check out this novella! - Keturah