The Last American Road Trip, Sarah Kendzior
The Last American Road Trip, Sarah Kendzior
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The Last American Road Trip
A Memoir

Author: Sarah Kendzior

Narrator: Sarah Kendzior

Unabridged: 10 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/01/2025


Synopsis

Written and read by New York Times bestselling author of They Knew, Hiding in Plain Sight, and The View from Flyover Country, Sarah Kenzidor, The Last American Road Trip navigates a changing America as Sarah and her family embark on a series of road trips in an audiobook that is part memoir, part history, and wholly unique.

"...a thoughtfully researched commentary, and Kendzior's narration matches that spirit." —AudioFile on The View from Flyover Country

It is one thing to study the fall of democracy, another to have it hit your homeland—and yet another to raise children as it happens. The Last American Road Trip is one family’s journey to the most beautiful, fascinating, and bizarre places in the US during one of its most tumultuous eras. As Kendzior works as a journalist chronicling political turmoil, she becomes determined that her young children see America before it’s too late. So Kendzior, her husband, and the kids hit the road—again and again.

Starting from Missouri, the family drives across America in every direction as cataclysmic events—the rise of autocracy, political and technological chaos, and the pandemic—reshape American life. They explore Route 66, national parks, historical sites, and Americana icons as Kendzior contemplates love for country in a broken heartland. Together, the family watches the landscape of the United States—physical, environmental, social, political—transform through the car window.

Part memoir, part political history, The Last American Road Trip is one mother’s promise to her children that their country will be there for them in the future—even though at times she struggles to believe it herself.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

About Sarah Kendzior

Sarah Kendzior is the bestselling author of The View from Flyover Country, Hiding in Plain Sight, and They Knew. She lives with her husband and children in St. Louis, Missouri.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer on April 02, 2025

Kendzior is one if the most earnest and heartfelt writers I've ever read. She writes about Missouri, being an American, her travels and her family and weaves in politics so skillfully I promise you might not realise - or at least won't mind. I almost went through and listed all the destinations and t......more

Goodreads review by Deanna (she_reads_truth_365) on April 10, 2025

Thank you to @macmillian.audio for the gifted audiobook. All opinions are my own. Bookish thoughts: The audio was narrated by the author. I listened at 1.75x speed. This book is part memoir, part political history about a family who takes a road trip around The United States during the COVID pandemic.......more

Goodreads review by Margarita on March 08, 2025

A family road trip through middle America carrying a political punch. Kendzior takes us with her to visit Route 66, National Parks and small town America as she sees the deterioration of the political landscape. It is both heartbreaking and intriguing to listen to this audiobook as her journey includ......more

Goodreads review by Sydney on February 28, 2025

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the eARC! I loved this book. Sarah Kendzior is a gorgeous writer - there were so many sentences that I highlighted - both because they moved me and because the WAY it was said was particularly pleasing or profound. This is my first Kendzior book, but it defi......more

Goodreads review by Steve on April 12, 2025

An interesting installment, or, I dunno, a different moment in time in Kendzior's evolution, ... probably a little warmer ... and, hmm, ... maybe somewhat less informative or less of an advocacy piece ... but no less worth reading (or, more accurately, very much worthwhile). I concede I'd be curious......more


Quotes

Praise for The Last American Road Trip

"Kendzior is an absolutely terrific writer—a preeminent voice of her generation—and her love for this troubled country flows like a kind of lifeblood through her work. I tore through The Last American Road Trip like it was a great novel—except that the sadness and wisdom it imparted stayed with me far longer than most fiction. Every American, whatever their politics, will recognize a country that they love, that they miss—and that they might be able to reclaim." —Sebastian Junger

“Impassioned... Kendzior stitches together history, travelogue, and political analysis to deliver a trenchant defense of flyover country... It adds up to a poignant portrait of life in the Trump era.” —Publishers Weekly

“A graceful—and righteously angry—travelogue through a troubled land.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)