An intimate journey through America, told by one of its most beloved writers.

To hear the language of real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light – these were John Steinbeck's goals when he set out at the age of fifty-eight to rediscover the country he had written about for so many years.

With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck travels along the interstates and backroads, dines with truckers, encounters bears in Yellowstone, and reconnects with old friends in San Francisco. Along the way, he reflects on the American character, racial hostilities, the unique form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.