Customer Reviews

Life: America's Most Scenic Drives : On the Nation's Highways and Byways (Life Books)

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The Book Description in the Editorial Review describes "the LIFE Scenic Drives Atlas." Which may be a book that exists somewhere. But it is not this book. From the description I expected an ATLAS, a collection of maps along with descriptions of marked scenic roads and highways, and included somehow, a photographic record of what these drives are like. (The review does mention "detailed maps".)

Instead there is a 2 page introduction, two satellite images of the US (east and west) with a red dot for each of the 40 drives the editors selected, and for each of the 40 drives there is a phone number you can call (about half toll and half toll-free) and a web page where one can get information about the drive.

This is followed by about 160 pages of pictures with some chamber of commerce type text and a lot of pictures. To be fair, the pictures are often excellent and a few are gorgeous. The text on the other hand is there to extol the beauties or interesting aspects of the drive, and in not at all informative about what the drive is like or even how to get on it. They depend on the phone numbers and web pages for that.

If it were advertised as a coffee table book, I would have no objection. But it is advertised as a reference and an atlas which it certainly is not.

A book with impressive photos, yet it only seems to cover a small amount of the possibilities of this great country. I expected a larger amount of possible routes in the many states of the U.S.

A must read for anyone planning a motorcycle trip. If you don't look at this book before you plan your trip you're making a big mistake! I've already had friends asking to borrow it!