Miles from Nowhere: Tales from America's Contemporary Frontier

Rating:
Summary: Deepinaharta...
Review: Here Dayton Duncan takes us on a fascinating tour of counties in several Western states that have fewer than two people per square mile - under which communities are considered "virtually uninhabited," at least in terms of standard sociological expectations. In addition to descriptions of jaw-dropping emptiness that people from more populated areas would find either uplifting or terrifying, Duncan provides many engaging stories of the real people toughing it out in these areas in which few are hardy enough to live. Examples are fractured politics among the Navajo in Utah; victims of nuclear testing in Central Nevada; an elderly woman living alone in Montana without modern conveniences dozens of miles form the nearest road; and the compelling story of the last few Seminole Negroes - descended from escaped slaves who mixed with Florida Indians and eventually ended up in West Texas. Included are great examinations of the cyclical boom-and-bust economics and strange politics confronting these lonely places, as they are alternately overlooked, romanticized, dumped on, and fought over by know-it-alls from far away. (On the other hand, Duncan also examines the irony in how such people often despise government interference, even though their existence would likely be impossible without Federal subsidies.) Duncan shows that these under-populated regions are still home to hardy and interesting people who continue to fulfill the American ideal of breaking off from the rat race and making it on one's own. [~doomsdayer520~]

Rating:
Summary: Deepinaharta...
Review: Here Dayton Duncan takes us on a fascinating tour of counties in several Western states that have fewer than two people per square mile - under which communities are considered "virtually uninhabited," at least in terms of standard sociological expectations. In addition to descriptions of jaw-dropping emptiness that people from more populated areas would find either uplifting or terrifying, Duncan provides many engaging stories of the real people toughing it out in these areas in which few are hardy enough to live. Examples are fractured politics among the Navajo in Utah; victims of nuclear testing in Central Nevada; an elderly woman living alone in Montana without modern conveniences dozens of miles form the nearest road; and the compelling story of the last few Seminole Negroes - descended from escaped slaves who mixed with Florida Indians and eventually ended up in West Texas. Included are great examinations of the cyclical boom-and-bust economics and strange politics confronting these lonely places, as they are alternately overlooked, romanticized, dumped on, and fought over by know-it-alls from far away. (On the other hand, Duncan also examines the irony in how such people often despise government interference, even though their existence would likely be impossible without Federal subsidies.) Duncan shows that these under-populated regions are still home to hardy and interesting people who continue to fulfill the American ideal of breaking off from the rat race and making it on one's own. [~doomsdayer520~]

Rating:
Summary: Still think about it after all these years
Review: I read this book several years ago, and it still crosses my mind often. Dayton Duncan is a wonderful author, and you immediately are in the vehicle with him, sitting right along side him and experiencing all the highs and lows of this trip in 3-D. Soon after I read this book, I sought out and read everything else he'd written by then, each of which was a joy to read. If you enjoy road trip books and learning something about the nature of we Americans, you'll not go wrong by reading this book. I've read most other contemporary American road travel books, and this certainly ranks at the very top (along with Bill Bryson's "The Lost Continent"). Get both books, you'll have traveled the length and breath of the country by the time you've finished andyou'll have met some very interesting, fun companions along the way.

Rating:
Summary: Still think about it after all these years
Review: I read this book several years ago, and it still crosses my mind often. Dayton Duncan is a wonderful author, and you immediately are in the vehicle with him, sitting right along side him and experiencing all the highs and lows of this trip in 3-D. Soon after I read this book, I sought out and read everything else he'd written by then, each of which was a joy to read. If you enjoy road trip books and learning something about the nature of we Americans, you'll not go wrong by reading this book. I've read most other contemporary American road travel books, and this certainly ranks at the very top (along with Bill Bryson's "The Lost Continent"). Get both books, you'll have traveled the length and breath of the country by the time you've finished andyou'll have met some very interesting, fun companions along the way.