Amerika: De Verbeelding van een Natie

The chapters on the open highways and the Old West captured exactly what I hoped for—it's less a travel guide and more a portrait of the country's imagination. I found myself rereading the section on the promise whispered to every generation.

I picked this up before a long road trip and ended up reading it in two sittings. The way it ties Coca-Cola and Levi's into the bigger story of the country surprised me in a good way.

The way this book moves from skyscrapers to open highways to the quiet promise whispered to every generation really got me. It's less a travel guide and more a portrait of the whole idea, and the writing on Hollywood and the Old West pulled me straight back to road trips I've taken.