Way Off the Road, Bill Geist
Way Off the Road, Bill Geist
3 Rating(s)
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Way Off the Road
Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small-Town America

Author: Bill Geist

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Unabridged: 7 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/19/2007


Synopsis

Celebrated roving correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning and bestselling author Bill Geist serves up a rollicking look at some small-town Americans and their offbeat ways of life.

"In rural Kansas, I asked our motel desk clerk for the name of the best restaurant in the area. After mulling it over, he answered: 'I'd have to say the Texaco, 'cuz the Shell don't have no microwave.'"

Throughout his career, Bill Geist's most popular stories have been about slightly odd but loveable individuals. Coming on the heels of his 5,600-mile RV trip across our fair land is Way Off the Road, a hilarious and compelling mix of stories about the folks featured in Geist's segments, along with observations on his twenty years of life on the road. Written in the deadpan style that has endeared him to millions, Geist shares tales of eccentric individuals, such as the ninety-three-year-old pilot-paperboy who delivers to his far-flung subscribers by plane; the Arizona mailman who delivers mail via horseback down the walls of the Grand Canyon; the Muleshoe, Texas, anchorwoman who delivers the news from her bedroom (occasionally wearing her bathrobe); and the struggling Colorado entrepreneur who finds success employing a sewer vacuum to rid Western ranchers of problematic prairie dogs. Geist also takes us to events such as the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival (celebrating an inspiring bird that survived decapitation, hired an agent, and went on the road for eighteen months) and Sundown Days in Hanlontown, Iowa, where the town marks the one day a year when the sun sets directly between the railroad tracks.

Along the wacky and wonderful way, Geist shows us firsthand how life in fly-over America can be odd, strangely fascinating, hysterical, and anything but boring.

About Bill Geist

Bill Geist is a regular commentator for CBS News Sunday Morning and The CBS Evening News and the bestselling author of six books, including The Big Five-Oh! and Little League Confidential. Before joining CBS, Geist was a columnist for the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on August 28, 2009

If you've never seen or heard of Bill Geist, I strongly urge you to stop reading this, and click this link: [URL not allowed], and revel in what CBS considers some of his best contributions to their news programs over the past 30 years. This is a guy who doesn't shy away from going up in the air on......more

Goodreads review by Jay on February 18, 2017

I remember reading Charles Kuralt’s books about people he met in different places, usually small towns, across America. I remember the TV stories as well. Kuralt’s focus was on the people and the pathos of their story. He’d dig in until he found that bit of humanity to tell the story. Given Bill Gei......more

Goodreads review by Jamie on January 18, 2019

If you’re going to write a travel book you can either write about people or places. It’s easier to do places, because exotic locations and majestic scenery lend themselves to descriptions that help the reader visualize the scenes. Writing about people is harder, and requires a light touch, because i......more

Goodreads review by Mayda on August 14, 2012

Small towns are often thought of as charming and quaint. Bill Geist has the knack for finding the strange and the weird. This audio book is highly entertaining as well as informative. You will discover that it is possible to make a good living photographing cows – if you can highlight their good poi......more

Goodreads review by Dan on February 07, 2018

I agree with Jay in his comments. The stories are interesting but he does seem to downplay what life is actually like in small town America. Champaign is a city not a town. If the author really wants to judge towns against one another he should be comparing life in towns not towns versus cities.......more