Route 66 Remembered [Hardcover]

Michael Karl Witzel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

A nostalgic road trip along an icon of American culture. Spectacular color photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Route 66 was, from the 1920s to the 1970s, the principal highway from Chicago to Los Angeles, until it was displaced by interstate highways. As this splendid contribution to American popular history shows, it played a significant role in our national development. Witzel (The American Gas Station) profiles many kinds of travelers, from carefree vacationers to weary Okies headed for what they hoped was a better life. He covers four principal subjects: attractions along the road (from phony totem poles to snake pits), filling stations, roadside eateries and motor hotels. While his text is very good, it is carried by 200 photos, more than half in color, which pay tribute to the twin gods Schlock and Kitsch. Readers will also pick up much Americana along the way, including the origins of corn dogs, carhops, chicken in the rough and house trailers. A minor defect is the absence of a capsule history of the highway, telling exactly when it began and ended, and, above all, a map. Even so, Witzel has produced a gem of nostalgia.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Author Michael Karl Witzel is a very enthusiastic historian of America's car culture and roadside phenomena, and it shows. His writing style is easy and thoroughly enjoyable to read, and the book's layout and design are first-rate and very creative. The book closes with a chapter titled "Mother Road Memories": life on the road. Here you'll read personal stories of the Route 66 experience from others, and see their family photographs. Simply fascinating. -- Vette Magazine, October 1996

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks International (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076030114X
• ISBN-13: 978-0760301142
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,553,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Member, American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I got my kicks with Route 66 Remembered, June 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Route 66 Remembered (Hardcover)

This book isn't a travel guide or a map-style publication, but a really cool scrapbook of the Mother Road. Witzel's sidebars on interesting segments of road culture are fascinating. The photography is great, too. Unlike a lot of the other 66 books, this one is divided up into chapters on gas stations, motels, restaurants, and other roadside attractions. The final chapter, "Mother Road Memories," recounts the true tales of people who actually took the trip down 66 and really takes you back to the way it used to be when traveling across country. Of all the roadside books I have in my library, I would highly recommend this treasure. It's one of Witzel's best ......

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Driving the Old Mother Road, July 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Route 66 Remembered (Hardcover)

I got this book before going on a trip down 66, along with a few others. I loved it. I had a lot of the people I met along the way sign the book and once in a while, got some of the owners of restaurants, gas stations, roadside attractions, and diners featured in the book to sign it. What a wonderful scrapbook to have of one of the last great American road trips!

4.0 out of 5 stars Get your kicks on Rt. 66..., April 10, 2009

By 

Gwen the bookworm (CT and FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Route 66 Remembered. (Hardcover)

Great idea for the traveler/reader wanting to taste a slice of true Americana. Lots of nostalgia in this big, colorful table size book. Takes you back in time and down one of America's iconic byways...Chock full of unique photos and stories of a time and place that may never come our way again...