Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate: An Economist's Travelogue (Paperback)

~ Michael D. Yates (Author) "In 2003, U.S. Census data showed that Johnstown was the city in the United States least likely to attract newcomers . . . ."(Wikipedia)..." (more)
Key Phrases: including associated costs, United States, New York, Miami Beach (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The road trip is a staple of modern American literature. But nowhere in American literature, until now, has a left-wing economist hit the road, observing and interpreting the extraordinary range and spectacle of U.S. life, bringing out its conflicts and contradictions with humor and insight.

Disillusioned with academic life after thirty-two years teaching economics, Michael D. Yates took early retirement in 2001, with a pension account that had doubled during the dot.com frenzy of the late 1990s. He and his wife Karen sold their house, got rid of their belongings, and have moved around the country since then, often spending months at a time on the road. Michael and Karen spent the summer of 2001 in Yellowstone National Park, where Michael worked as a hotel front-desk clerk. They moved to Manhattan for a year, where he worked for Monthly Review. From there they went to Portland, Oregon, to explore the Pacific Northwest. After five months of travel in Summer and Fall 2004, they settled in Miami Beach. Ahead of the 2005 hurricane season, they went back on the road, settling this time in Colorado.

Cheap Motels and a Hotplate is both an account of their adventures and a penetrating examination of work and inequality, race and class, alienation and environmental degradation in the small towns and big cities of the contemporary United States.

From the Author

MICHAEL D. YATES is associate editor of Monthly Review. He was professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown for many years. He is the author of Naming the System: Inequality and Work in the Global Economy and Why Unions Matter. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Monthly Review Press; illustrated edition edition (March 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583671439
• ISBN-13: 978-1583671436
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #249,246 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, April 11, 2007

By	A. Yates (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Not your regular travel guide. Not only does it include beautiful descriptions of the many places Michael Yates and his wife visited throughout the United States - particularly out West - but this one delves into how the economy has affected the lives of the regular, every-day people Michael Yates and his wife encountered along the way. They include the sometimes "invisible" people - cleaners, clerks, etc. - who work to make visitors more comfortable during their stays at the various state parks and other tourist attractions. This book held my interest from beginning to end.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read !, May 5, 2007

By	tara (arlington, va) - See all my reviews

This book is thought-provoking as well as an easy read. It deals with serious issues like race, class and labor in an interesting, readable way. Although it is very educational, it was the perfect book for me to read poolside on vacation. Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate provides an in-depth look at many popular travel destinations that will make you think twice about what goes on behind the scenes the next time you visit a National Park or stay in a hotel.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A road less traveled, April 26, 2007

By	Robert Klaput (Ford City, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author's look at leisure travel through the lens of the economist is a refreshing change from travelogues that tell you to go-to-this-beach or visit-this-restaurant. The picture of material excess in Miami Beach and the despoiling of nature for profit is revealing of our profit-driven world. Having graduated from the same high school as the author, I can attest to the accuracy of his portrayal of his home town. I do find some irony in the book sale profits the author makes in an economic system he castigates. Over-all, though, an educational and enjoyable drive through the topography of our society: the beautiful, the bad and the ugly.