Rating: 
Summary: Indispensible.
Review: After a few days on the road, my husband and I tossed aside our Fodor's and let Roadside America be our Bible and our guiding light. What wonders it led us to! What happiness it gave us! The writing is bust-a-gut funny, and I like the way they don't bother with the particulars like addresses, hours of operation, and the like. It leaves enough room for adventure. Pay particular attention to the Seven Wonders... if our visit to the Precious Moments Inspiration Park is any indication, they truly are worth diverting your trip for. Combine this book with Roadfood and you've got yourself WEEKS of all-American goodness.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensible.
Review: After a few days on the road, my husband and I tossed aside our Fodor's and let Roadside America be our Bible and our guiding light. What wonders it led us to! What happiness it gave us! The writing is bust-a-gut funny, and I like the way they don't bother with the particulars like addresses, hours of operation, and the like. It leaves enough room for adventure. Pay particular attention to the Seven Wonders... if our visit to the Precious Moments Inspiration Park is any indication, they truly are worth diverting your trip for. Combine this book with Roadfood and you've got yourself WEEKS of all-American goodness.
Rating:
Summary: For Road Trip Lovers and Those Seeking the Unique Vacation.
Review: As a teenager living in a very dull community with a yearning to do something other than the usual mall and movie, I came across an ad in a Wisconsin tourist book about the World's Largest Talking Cow. I was immediately intrigued and decided to travel the six hours with my best friend to get there. While for some people it may not be worth the drive and the .25 you have to pay for the cow to talk, if you're the kind of person who shuns Disney World type trips in search of the unique this book is for you. After my cow trip I went online and found the website for this book, which has almost more info than the book, including preplanned trips across America centered around these Roadside Attractions and Paul Bunyan sightings. The book itself gives quite a detailed amount of information about each site, and you can always double check the website if you're worried about if its still existing, which can be an issue for smaller attractions. You'd be suprised how many of these things are close to home, and for me that meant the Mustard Museum in Mt. Horeb Wisconsin and Metropolis, IL (home to Superman everything...though most quickly note that Superman was not born in Metropolis.)If you're up for an interesting road trip or two that DOESN'T involve another Hard Rock Cafe stop, you should definately get this book. It was 7 years ago that I picked it up, and now I make a point of getting out at least once a year to find something wacky along the road.
Rating:
Summary: Hysterical, it's a book with its own web site!
Review: For those who love the tacky, the kitschy, the world of junky souvenirs, this entertaining guidebook is a MUST. It not only guides you to the weird, wonderful tourist traps all over the country, but the author keeps you in stitches with his tongue-in-cheek comments on the quality of each mecca. Everyone knows about Wall Drug and South of the Border, but have you ever heard of Florida's Weeki Wachi Springs, the funky Castle of Mystery in Phoenix or the the bizarre House on the Rock? Any time I'm heading out-of-state for some travel, I always consult this book. Sadly, a few of these places have been torn down already. If you love this book as I do, check out its web site, which is updated each week (I believe it's www.roadsideamerica.com). - Lori M. Sampson
Rating: 
Summary: Factual content good, but a very unpleasant read
Review: I bought this book to research roadside attractions for a cross-country trip. While there is a fair amount of decent information about many offbeat attractions, the tone of the book really bugged me.Instead of celebrating the uniqueness and fun of the subject matter, the authors denigrate every single attraction. You read a couple of pages of this, and you wonder why they wrote this book, since they seem to have genuine contempt for their subject matter. So, if you are just looking for facts, it may be worth a try. However, if you are a fan of such things, it will really turn you off.
Rating: 
Summary: In spite of the "NEW" starburst on the cover, this is OLD!!
Review: I enjoy roadside kitsch as much as anyone, and I don't mind having to look for some of the sites. I mourn the loss and decay of so much of this "art". But this book doesn't make me feel good about much of anything. First, it's positively ancient, and many of the places described are probably not extant today. But most off-putting to me was the apparent attitudes of the writers. In all but a few cases, what may have been their attempts at humor seemed instead to have a condescending, sarcastic, downright snotty edge. In my opinion, not funny at all.
Rating:
Summary: Wild. LOTS of fun.
Review: I found the website by these same authors and after visiting the website a few times, I knew I had to have the book. This is a hilarious book. I laughed and wanted to jump into my car to go see some of the wild sites described in this book.
This book covers the off beat places that are not covered in typical guide books (McD's Elvis, Small Oddball museums and more). A great way to add variety and zest to your trip. Visit the website too. It's a lot of fun. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful. And it's a fun read as well.
Review: I lent this book to my father and never got it back. So I'm on here buying it again. One night when doing research on the internet, I found this wonderful site about traveling. (roadsideamerica.com) I had so much fun looking at this website and learning about what I could see while I traveled, I knew I wanted the book. I had a ball reading it and planned to go out of my way to see some of the fun things listed in this book. I passed it on to my dad when he went on a road trip and he won't give it back. So I'm buying a new copy, it's that much fun. This book puts the fun back into travel. Forget about hotels and motels and route numbers, these you can find out for yourself on a map. Forget about phone numbers and costs and hours of operation- those change. This book helps you open your eyes to see what there is to see- fun museums, crazy statues, small churches and more. Even if you don't travel, this is a fun book to read. What a gem.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite travel book
Review: I purchased this book after discovering the related website roadsideamerica.com. This book was published in 1992 and some of the attractions contained in the book have closed, but in a way that only adds to the appeal because if you really want to see an attraction featured in this book you'd better get going before it's too late. I only wish I had met Tom Gaskins before he passed away, but at least I know of his life's work. The lack or directions and phone numbers is understandable when you realize just how many area codes have been added since 1992 and how many road names have changed. For me, this book represents the finest scavenger hunt of kistch ever written, and the lack of phone numbers and directions only addes to the experience. This book is the first thing I throw into the suitcase when I travel for business or other reasons. The pages are dog-eared from use and the cover is stained with coffee and how knows what from that diner in Tennessee, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The best part about the entire Roadside America experience is that if you discover something on the road you can add to the fun via roadsideamerica.com. Buy this book and hit the road.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it.
Review: I've had this book for several years now, and it's a "keeper". It's hysterical, and I can still look through it and laugh like I did the first time I read it. It's especially funny for those of you who live in a "tourist-intensive" region and and could probably write a book yourself on tourist traps, etc.
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