the first coast-to-coast interstate highway, I-80, was completed in 1986, running from New York City to San Francisco. It was a great boon for hotel and fast-food chains, which sprung up by interstate exits. It was also a boon for suburban living, since commuting was faster and easier than before. But it was not necessarily good for American literature. When John Steinbeck took a cross-country trip with his dog and wrote Travels with Charley (1962), he only traveled on the interstate for one section, on I-90 between Erie, Pennsylvania, and Chicago, Illinois. He wrote: "These great roads are wonderful for moving goods but not for inspection of a countryside. You are bound to the wheel and your eyes to the car ahead and to the rear-view mirror for the car behind and [...] at the same time you must read all the signs for fear you may miss some instructions or orders. No roadside stands selling squash juice, no antique stores, [...] no farm products. When we get these thruways across the whole country, as we will and must, it will be possible to drive from New York to California without seeing a single thing."
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 13:27:50 +0000
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