The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 20 April 1999
by Andrei Codrescu
Despite its lofty subtitle, Codrescu's meditations on American culture in this book are less a study of cities than a collection of astute observations of city life. Codrescu, perhaps best known for his NPR commentary and the movie Road Scholar, is a literate and amusing observer of the people and places around him. He has adopted this country and writes of it with affection and quizzical irony. The book includes travels from New Orleans (his home) to places as diverse as the Arkansas Ozarks, La Jolla, and Baltimore. Several of his destinations can't really be characterized as cities. But what Codrescu uncovers is a character of place. Acute observations of perfect Californians in La Jolla, corrupt police officers and great food in New Orleans, the quality of light that gives San Francisco its charm, literary references and friends in all these places, give the book depth and color. Much of the writing centers around food. Hailing, now, from New Orleans, Codrescu is obsessed with good eating wherever he goes. Despite the several quotes from much more weighty works on the subject, this book is entertaining, insightful, occasionally scary, often self-referential and will certainly incite the reader towards traveling the country.
[Other Books in or about California]
[Other Books in or about the American South]