Roadside Americans, Jack Reid
Roadside Americans, Jack Reid
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Roadside Americans
The Rise and Fall of Hitchhiking in a Changing Nation

Author: Jack Reid

Narrator: Johnny Heller

Unabridged: 7 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/30/2020

Synopsis

Between the Great Depression and the mid-1970s, hitchhikers were a common sight for motorists, as American service members, students, and adventurers sought out the romance of the road in droves. Beats, hippies, feminists, and civil rights and antiwar activists saw "thumb tripping" as a vehicle for liberation, living out the counterculture's rejection of traditional values. Yet, by the time Ronald Reagan, a former hitchhiker himself, was in the White House, the youthful faces on the road chasing the ghost of Jack Kerouac were largely gone—along with sympathetic portrayals of the practice in state legislatures and the media.

In Roadside Americans, Jack Reid traces the rise and fall of hitchhiking, offering vivid accounts of life on the road and how the act of soliciting rides from strangers, and the attitude toward hitchhikers in American society, evolved over time in sync with broader economic, political, and cultural shifts. In doing so, Reid offers insight into significant changes in the United States amid the decline of liberalism and the rise of the Reagan Era.

About Jack Reid

Jack Reid is a scholar of American culture. He lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Edwin

ROADSIDE AMERICANS, by Jack Reid, chronicles the rise and fall of hitchhiking in the Unites States from the Great Depression through the 1980's. A well researched and detailed history, Reid looks at hitchhiking from the rider/driver perspective, to a community perception, from city planning conside......more

Goodreads review by Jessica

In Roadside Americans Jack Reid looks at hitchhiking and how it reflected the American culture at the time and how it changed over the years. He starts in the 1920's around the time of the Great Depression and follows the trend through the late 1980's when it mostly died off. Interestingly at some t......more

Goodreads review by Emily

Jack Reid is a true historian. In Roadside Americans, Reid’s intersectional dive into hitchhiking brings in stark relief the racism, sexism, and class division that is woven throughout the history of the United States. Reid shows that in many ways, hitchhiking is a metaphor for the health and values......more

Goodreads review by Cat

Ahhh, a forgotten pastime of my youth! I used to love hitching rides around the country. Many of my friends did, too. Some even thumbed their ways around the planet! Times began to change in the mid to late 70's. Police were cracking down on us, towns were making it illegal, it was crazy. Well, the......more

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