- Title: Blue Highways A Journey Into America
- Author: William Least Heat Moon
- Year Published: 1982/This Edition: 1985 (A Fawcett Crest Book Published by Ballantine Books)
- Year Purchased: 1987
- Source: Likely Waldenbooks.
- About: In the late 1970s, teacher William Least Heat Moon lost his job and his love. Instead of wallowing, he set out on one of those Great Journeys of personal and cultural discovery that Americans are so famous for; this book is the result of that trip. It rightfully spent months atop the New York Times Best Seller List. Blue Highways had such a profound impact on my early adolescence that it begs for a separate entry; I promise to do that soon. Until then, consider this volume worth every penny. It’s a classic.
- Motivation: Honestly, I have no idea. I think that I heard about this somewhere and decided to buy it (or, to be accurate, ask my Mom to buy it for me) to read on a summer road trip out West.
- Times Read: A very profound 2
- Random Excerpt/Page 59: “Maybe she was right that tourists want half-timbered facades and stained-plastic windows; maybe they want an Elizabethan town even when the real Manteo had been clapboard and shingles. Progress, retrogression-the Duchess knew best. But for me, I headed toward the town that hadn’t seen neon light.”
- Happiness Scale: Off the charts.
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea.
Not just a blog, a philosophy
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 
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Greetings! Thanks for this post. I am Heat-Moon’s social media administrator, and I’d like to invite you to visit (and hopefully like) his new official Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/William-Least-Heat-Moon-Official/309951429035801?ref=hl
There are, of course, several FB pages others have set up, but this is the one Heat-Moon oversees and approves. All of the messages sent privately to this FB page are forwarded directly to him. Thanks!
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Thanks for the link to the Facebook page, which I happily liked. Although I reviewed Blue Highways for my Project 366 (which is a series of mini-reviews of the books in my collection), I plan on writing a more in-depth review in a few weeks after re-reading the book. It had such a profound impact on me when I first read it at age 14, back in 1987. It introduced me to another dimension of what is possible in writing, and one entirely different from the classics I was raised on from early childhood. It was a much needed break from what I was accustomed to and, although my writing voice and subject matter is very different from his, he’s had a huge impact on me.
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