MONSTER OF A LAND: on the road in search of modern america
Imagine buying an old van and hitting the road with just your dog, leaving everything behind that ties you to a particular place — your house, your job, your friends & family.
Who hasn’t at least daydreamed of giving into wanderlust like this?
Well, Hough did it. She bought the van, loaded her dog, and hit the road. And then she wrote about it.
And the thing is, Hough isn’t just some generic person indulging in some clichéd fantasy. She’s all-too-real, with a decidedly idiosyncratic history & viewpoint, and her trip across America occurs at a certain time & place, bound by a host of impinging circumstances and the weight of histories both recent & ancient — which, of course, would be true of any of us. And every one of Hough’s chapters is aware of all this.
What’s so winning about Hough’s narrative is its blend of forthrightness & humanity. (It’s no surprise to discover that she’s a fan of Vonnegut!) She encounters all manner of people in her travels, and she’s been through enough struggle to be jaded. But she manages to avoid falling into outright cynicism, which I find admirable.
Plus, there’s the dog. I’m a dog person. And, clearly, so is Hough. Not only does she have one as her traveling companion, she is constantly encountering other ones. Moreover, she is haunted by the dogs of her past. Talk about a signal of virtue! (And I mean that unironically.)
Again, what I liked about this book is that Hough is sharply observant of the bullshit around her, all while being refreshingly honest about her own. She can swing from being archly opinionated to being heroically generous, all in the same paragraph.
I’m grateful to Hough for allowing us to take this journey with her. I urge you to take it as well!
Get Monster Of A Land by Lauren Hough here: https://a.co/d/0bg74yjF
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