Episode · The Book Review · 2025-08-01
Books mentioned on It's Still Summer. Let's Talk Road Trip Books.
Dwight Garner discussed On the Road by Jack Kerouac, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore, Machine dreams by Jayne Anne Phillips, and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Jennifer Szalai recommended The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carré, and discussed Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli, and The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith. Gilbert Cruz discussed Tramps like us by Joe Westmoreland, Driving Mr. Albert by Michael Paterniti, The Dog of the South by Charles Portis, All Fours by Miranda July, and Hearts by Hilma Wolitzer. Alexandra Jacobs discussed Gypsy by Gypsy Rose Lee, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, and Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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On the Road
On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a seminal autobiographical novel that chronicles the cross-country road trips of its protagonist and captures the restless energy of the Beat Generation.
Discussed“This book changed my life and and changed my life to the extent that a it sent me out there into the world myself, hitchhiking, traveling, trying to find a different place.”
Where to get it
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Sing, Unburied, Sing
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward is a powerful Mississippi-set novel that functions simultaneously as a raw road trip narrative and a haunting ghost story.
Discussed“And so there was a book that I picked, Sing Unburied, Sing by Jessine Ward, which is really road trip novel turned into a ghost story.”
Where to get it
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Lost Children Archive
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli is a sweeping, structurally inventive novel that weaves together themes of family road trips, the migration crisis at the southern U.S.
Discussed“and another book by Valeria Louisiselli, The Lost Children Archive, which takes these notions of freedom and escape and turns it into a tale of marriage, family, and looking for missing children.”
Where to get it
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I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home
I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore is a contemporary novel that follows a man on a melancholic road trip with his undead girlfriend.
Discussed“It's called I am homeless if this is not my home.”
Where to get it
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Tramps like us
Discussed“Dwight, I want to turn to one of the books that you wrote about as part of this project, which is Tramps Like Us. This is a 2001 book by uh the author Joe West Morland.”
Where to get it
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Driving Mr. Albert
Discussed“Jen, you wrote about a non-fiction book, a book called Driving Mr. Albert, which came out in the year 2000. It's by the magazine writer and author Michael Patterniti.”
Where to get it
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Gypsy
Discussed“I was amazed that they let me sneak Gypsy onto this list because most people of course think of Gypsy as the musical”
Where to get it
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The Dog of the South
The Dog of the South by Charles Portis is a darkly humorous comic novel following an eccentric protagonist on a sprawling, unpredictable road trip across America and Central America.
Discussed“The Dog of the South by Charles Poris. Charles Poris, what a weirdo.”
Where to get it
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All Fours
Miranda July's novel All Fours explores relationships, midlife, and identity in a deeply unconventional way.
Discussed“Why is all fours by Miranda July here? I mean, it just, you know, it's so funny.”
Where to get it
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Hearts
Discussed“Alexandra Jacobs, tell me about Hearts. Hearts. Who wrote Hearts?”
Where to get it
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The Pigeon Tunnel
John le Carré's memoir The Pigeon Tunnel offers a fascinating look into the renowned spy novelist's extraordinary life, blending personal anecdotes with reflections on espionage and storytelling.
Recommended“I really love John Lar's memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, where he reads it.”
Where to get it
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Machine dreams
Machine Dreams by Jayne Anne Phillips is a critically acclaimed novel that traces the fragmentation of a West Virginia family across several decades against the backdrop of mid-century American history and the Vietnam War.
Discussed“I when my wife and I were just married and broke and we were in Mexico driving around and buming around and I was reading one of my favorite novels. I didn't know that at the time. Jane Phillips's machine dreams”
Where to get it
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Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is a widely celebrated epic Western novel that follows former Texas Rangers on a cattle drive from the border of Texas to Montana.
Discussed“I read Lonesome Dove on a road trip through the Southwest.”
Where to get it
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Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita centers on the deeply disturbing relationship between an adult narrator and a young girl whom he exploits across America.
Discussed“I am absolutely furious that Lolita is not on this list. I don't know how it dropped off.”
Where to get it
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The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a classic American novel depicting the hardships of Oklahoma families migrating to California during the Great Depression.
Discussed“I miss not talking about The Grapes of Wrath. I adore that book.”
Where to get it
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The Price of Salt
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith is a psychological romance novel originally published under a pseudonym that details the intense connection between two women in 1950s New York.
Discussed“So, this was a book that fell also fell outside of the time frame of our project and it's The Price of Salt by Patricia Highmith.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“This one focused on the great road trip books since Jack Carowaks On the Road.”
“Dwight, you wrote about a book and an author that I have never read, which is my bad because I've always wanted to read True Grit. The Dog of the South by Charles Poris.”