Best books ... chosen by Ted Conover
Ted Conover’s new book is The Routes of Man: How Roads Are Changing the World and the Way We Live Today. Below, the author of the award-winning prison chronicle Newjack names six favorite road
Outside Lies Magic by John R. Stilgoe (Walker, $15). What John Berger’s Ways of Seeing did for traditional oil painting, this book does for roads and landscapes: It helps you to understand what you’re looking at, from the layout of towns to the placement of electric lines to the distance between street and dwelling. It’s a reminder that, even in a young country like the United States, we live in the past. And it’s an argument for going outside and opening your eyes.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (Penguin, $8). Kerouac wrote this novel in the same year that The Catcher in the Rye was published, and some of the language feels as dated. But there is no purer expression in American culture of the energy and glory of road travel, of the possibility of transcendence through movement.
In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin (Penguin, $15). There’s a reason he didn’t call it In Argentina: Chatwin was after mythos. In this quiet celebration of language and the oddness of a backwater settled by people from all over, he achieves the evocative power of great fiction.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage, $15). The sober flipside of Kerouac, a dystopian view of roads as last resort, a place to look for food and shelter in the nuclear winter. McCarthy’s roads, stripped of civic purpose, are conduits of danger, the setting for the final acts of the human drama. Epic and riveting.
The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (Penguin, $16). A conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his march from the Gulf of Mexico to Tenochtitlán describes the “new world” when it was new—and truly astonishing. Neither the newness nor the Aztec Empire would last for long: As the Romans learned, the same roads that help to make an empire grow can bring it to its knees.
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart (Houghton Mifflin, $15). An argument for audacity (Stewart walked across Afghanistan eight years ago, while war was raging), combined with education (he speaks Dari), and the wit to ignore received opinion about our “enemies” (he’ll talk to anybody).
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Are 'judge shopping' rules a blow to Republicans?
Today's Big Question How the abortion pill case got to the Supreme Court
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Climate change is driving Indian women to choose sterilization
under the radar Faced with losing their jobs, they are making a life-altering decision
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
'A great culture will be lost if the EV brigade gets its way'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Keith O'Brien's 6 must-read books about significant moments in sports history
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Laura Hillenbrand, Jonathan Eig and more
By The Week US Published
-
Lauren Oyler's favorite collection of essays that will leave you deep in thought
Feature The author recommends works by Elif Batuman, Mark Greif, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Rebecca Serle's 6 favorite books about interpersonal relationships
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by J.D. Salinger, Dolly Alderton, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Cristina Henríquez's 6 popular books with historical themes
Feature The novelist recommends works by Min Jin Lee, Kurt Vonnegut, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Mark Greaney's 6 favorite suspenseful books about espionage
Feature The author recommends works by Tom Clancy, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Hisham Matar's 6 favorite books that are part of a collection
Feature The Pulitzer Prize-winning author recommends works by Jean Rhys, Michael Ondaatje, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Yangsze Choo's 6 favorite works about love and human connection
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Cho Nam-Joo, Hiro Arikawa and more
By The Week US Published
-
Kwame Alexander's 6 must-read books about the art of poetry
Feature The poet recommends works by E.E. Cummings, Clint Smith and more
By The Week US Published