Foreshadowings -- A defense of the gentle art of hitchhiking -- Sound and fury -- Service plaza -- Cop -- Laws of the highway -- Dangers -- Chicago independent -- Missionary -- Gods of the highway -- Chinese-Canadian tourists -- Mexican driver -- Night -- Truck stop -- Malaise -- Rounding St. Louis -- Weirdo -- Regional manager -- The literary life -- Hannibal -- Hopping freights -- Townspeople -- Sleeping rough -- The tramp's alarm clock -- Midtown crossroads -- Of grain elevators and skydiving -- The easy life -- Of toll bridges and torts -- Of air conditioners and conspiracy -- A historical investigation -- The art and science of hitchhiking -- A vehicular taxonomy, or natural history of the highway -- A fellow musician -- A ride across the plains -- Another night on the road -- Red desert and Little America -- Russian -- The melting pot -- The whiteness of the drivers -- Corvette -- Russian redux -- Dark streets -- And the gods laughed -- Envoi : Mexico 1987.
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This fascinating tale of the author's cross-country hitchhiking journey is a captivating look into the pleasures and challenges of the open road. As the miles roll by he meets businessmen, missionaries, conspiracy theorists, and truck drivers from all ages and ethnicities who are eager to open their car doors to a wandering stranger. This memoir uncovers the hidden reality that the United States remains hospitable, quirky, and as ready as ever to offer help to a curious traveler. Demonstrating how hitchhiking can be the ultimate in adventure travel, a thrilling exploration of both people and scenery, this guide also serves as a hitchhiker's reference, sharing the history behind this communal form of travel while touching on roadside lore and philosophy.