Monster of a Land: On the Road in Search of Modern America

Hough’s (Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing) new book is a travelogue inspired by John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. Charley was Steinbeck’s dog, and Hough has her own canine, a husky mix named Woody (after Woody Guthrie). While Steinbeck’s travelogue was written in his sixties, toward the end of his life, Hough writes hers while in her forties. Death and aging inspire both books as Hough reflects on a long-ago trip not taken with a loyal friend, who passed away too young. She writes beautifully of loss: loss of friends, family, neighborliness, mutual understanding, and meaning in a world ripped apart by endless consumption, digital dependency, and greed. She writes about home and belonging, and her passages on dogs are heartbreakingly tender. Fans of her first book of essays will be thrilled as Hough once again proves her unique ability to see connections among seemingly disparate people and situations.