I picked up this book because I needed a road trip book to fill a participation requirement in a book challenge. I'm so glad that I did. The author took time off from everything to drive across the country with his dog. He met all different types of people and had good and bad experiences. Politics and beliefs came up often and varied person to person. Elections, war and racial desecration are just a little of what was on the minds of many. He's pretty good at giving mostly unbiased opinions of his interactions. He describes many popular geographical spots also. I felt that I received a pretty accurate and interesting look at the U.S. of the past.