A Route 66 Companion

A literary history of America’s most storied highway, featuring work from Raymond Chandler, Joan Didion, John Steinback, Sylvia Plath, and more. Even before there was a road, there was a route. Buffalo trails, Indian paths, the old Santa Fe trace—all led across the Great Plains and the western mountains to the golden oasis of California. America’s insatiable westering urge culminated in Route 66, the highway that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. Opened in 1926, Route 66 became the quintessential