A Bit Off
Having read Wallis' big highway book about Route 66, I guess I was expecting more out of the Lincoln Highway offering. But, comparing the two, the Lincoln Highway had a rather 'phoned in' feel and read to it. Not that its bad, it's a fine book, but I was expecting more from this author.
Lincoln Highway comes off much more a travel guide than the Route 66 book. The numberous and predictible stops for 'good down home road food' and 'the local dated business dating back to the days of the highway' references started to become clique especially when contrasted with the same in the Route 66 book. It was as if he was trying to recapture that Route 66 feeling, one very unique to that road, in the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln is loaded with history, but overall lacks the folklore and myth of the great American love with travel and moving west that Route 66 has. In short, it was a hard road to top.
I've travelled both roads, and in particular the Lincoln in PA. I did feel Wallis glanced over the road in PA, while spending a great deal of time on places like New Jersey and eastern Ohio. Central PA on Route 30 (Lincoln Hwy) is a pure stretch of the route, where, in the old days, you could pretty much compare it to Route 66 in Missouri or Illinois.
Overall, a good book, but not up to the level I'd look for from this author on a topic he has come to own. Only the Tom Teague book on Route 66 tops the Wallis efforts.
Nostalgic and informative
I first heard about this and it's companion book about Route 66 on NPR, so I decided to borrow it from my local library. It was so delightful that I purchased it for my mother (she is 79) and she was very pleased with it, too. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is over 40 and has warm and fuzzy road trip memories from childhood.
Lincoln Highway: Coast to Caoast from Times Square to the Golden Gate
Very well written--this book makes you want to get in your car and drive. We are planning our next vacation to cover just a part of the Lincoln Highway.
Excellent book
Excellent book, well written with many classic photos. Would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Lincoln Highway.
Great Book on Americana
What a great book to establish and chronicle the history of this very important highway in the history of our country. If you think of the internet and how it reduced the size of the world. This highway when first completed, did the same thing to this GREAT country of ours. Very interesting book about what you would see while traveling this road. Makes me want to jump on my motorcycle and head out!!!
(10 reviews)
