Heat Moon, William Least

Blue Highways: A Journey Into America

ISBN: 0316353957
Boston, MA: Atlantic Monthly Press / Little, Brown and Company, 1982. First Edition. Hardcover. "When 'Least Heat Moon' (the translation of the tribal name in his mixed blood) lost his job in a college in Missouri, he got a half-ton Ford van, packed a few necessaries including Leaves of Grass and Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks, and set out to follow the track of various ancestors and write a book about America. The book is called Blue Highways, and it is a masterpiece. For the most part Least Heat Moon was exploring the unsung side of America...Everywhere, Least Heat Moon drew people into conversation- in bars and in communities of Trappists. Least Heat Moon has a genius for finding people who have not even found themselves, exploring their lives, capturing their language, and recreating little (or big) lost worlds, or moments. In short, he makes America seem new, in a very special way, and its people new. Blue Highways is a magnificent and unique tour..." (from Robert Penn Warren, quoted on front flap) The first- published, now-classic work by William Least Heat Moon (born William Lewis Trogdon), the acclaimed & prolific American historian & travel writer of mixed (including Osage-tribal Native American) heritage. With echoes of Jack Kerouac's On the Road (minus any Neal Cassady-esque companion), Heat Moon explored the back roads of the American continent, found & recorded the essence of its environments & people. With photographs throughout, taken by the author during his travels. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition as stated on copyright page. A foundational & rewarding Heat Moon collectible; a cornerstone of American travel literature. Book in very fine condition with only mild wear, fading & a few tiny bumps to thin edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; several small, faint horizontal wave-blisters at upper area of spine (not effecting bright & intact gilt); mild rubbing & spotting to upper edge of text block; almost none at side & lower edges of same. Interior very fine with only miniscule bumps at upper corners of a few page leaves; otherwise substantially mint. Dust jacket fine with mild-to-moderate rubbing, spotting & scratching to front, back covers & spine; mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same & flaps; very slight loss of paper at lower right spine-corner; one very short, closed vertical tear at upper edge of front cover near right corner. An extra handling fee will be added for shipping due to the weight of this item. Very Fine / Fine. [Item #4544]

Price: $60.00