Of course, I'm a sucker for essays like this- good ones, that is. And this counts as one of the best. The Great American Road Trip, The Open Road- Frank, Shore, Sternfeld... you get the picture. Somewhere Along The Line by Joshua Dudley Greer does not disappoint- I couldn't find a photo I didn't fawn over for the first two thirds of the book.
And this book does two things: it brings the geographic and economic expanse of modern day, early 21st century America into view in its captivating compositions, and it doesn't hold back- this is a country that is hurting, and this is a book that doesn't shy from showing it "from sea to shiny sea." Accidents, sinkholes, homeless encampments... a homemade billboard in the midst of a field bears a phone number with the words, "I need a kidney."
This is also the first road essay that actually makes the road a main focus of the photo essay itself; America's highways and byways are the main character here, not just a mere cameo presence as in most of this genre. This is not a tourist itinerary of America by a long shot, it's more hardscrabble America on the go, still proud and industrious, but in search of its bootstraps nonetheless...
It makes us rethink and reenvision the America we've known, and the America we think we know. One of the last photos is of a junk yard in a vast expanse where yellow school buses surround the junked cars held within- we're still circling the wagons...
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| Photo: Joshua Dudley Greer |
Loved this book, instant classic! That billboard with the "I Need a Kidney" hurts me every time I look at it, but it's one of my favorite photos, along with the burning car on the freeway, and the photo of the huge sinkhole.
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