The Road Movie Book

What I found unusual about this book is that there seem to be very few existing titles which try to define the Road movie as this book does . Subsequently you want this book to go further than it does. You read it and wonder why so many movies have been ignored or passed over for debate. This however is not a critism as a comment on the difficulty of trying to define a film 'genre'. Steven Cohan does well to pull together a collection of diverse and engaging essays on everything from Easy rider to old Bob Hope movies. The essay on Easy Rider by Barbara Klinger is particularly interesting because it touches on the very crux of the Road Movie genre: the representation of the American phsyce. All these essays chronicle how Road movies have reflected recent American history from the Depression through the Second World War through to modern times. I am still suprised that this book is the first of its kind because movies like EASY RIDER, THELMA AND LOUISE, PARIS,TEXAS, et all touch so deeply into the American identity. Which begs the question why so little is included about the likes of American Grafitti, Dazed and Confused, Fandango etc. A fantastic read none the less. I think this book would appeal to American historians as much as Film buffs, film makers, artists or (like me) students of Architecture and landscape. Get in a car, hit the Road,read this book.