Book Reviews

Consuming Landscapes: What We See When We Drive and Why It Matters
By Thomas Zeller
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022
Hardcover, 239 pages, $53.23
Reviewed by Brian Gallaugher

Central to Zeller’s thesis is the concept of “Roadmindedness,” that is, the belief, current in the early 20th century, that roads would elevate society and contribute to progress; and, even more, that “roads are worthy in and of themselves.”

Isaly’s: Chipped Ham, Klondikes, and Other Tales
By Brian Butko
Pittsburgh: Senator John Heinz History Center, 2021
Softcover, 148 pages, $19.95
Available at https://visithei.nz/isalys-book

Reviewed by Harold Aurand Jr.

Brian Butko’s new book, Isaly’s: Chipped Ham, Klondikes, and Other Tales from Behind the Counter is aimed at people who remember Isaly’s glory days. Isaly’s (rhymes with “fries, please”) dairy business started in eastern Ohio, established a chain of stores in the surrounding area and quickly rose to become the world’s largest chain of dairy/deli stores.

GOOGIE MODERN: Architectural Drawings of Armet
By Michael Murphy With Text by Alan Hess and Photography by Jens Lucking
Angel City Press, 2022
Hardcover, 206 pages, Retail: $50

Reviewed by Heather David

GOOGIE MODERN is a celebration of both art and the built environment. But perhaps, more importantly, the book is a tribute to a highly innovative architectural firm that helped define a period in U.S. history. The architecture of Armet, Davis, and Newlove brought the seemingly impossible to life. The firm’s innovative designs were created for mass consumption and captured an optimism for a future that seemed limitless.

The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads
By William Kaszynski
Jeferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2000
Softcover, 237 pages

Reviewed by Ralph S. Wilcox

William Kaszynski’s book is a must-have for anyone interested in the history of American roads or its businesses, providing readers with a scenic ride along American roads, including side trips exploring roadside establishments.

66 on 66: A Photographer’s Journey
By Terrence Moore
Tucson, Ariz.: Schaffner Press, 2018
144 pages; 10 x 11.5 inches, $27.95 hardcover

Reviewed by Douglas C. Towne

Terrence Moore is a talented photographer, and his gifted eye is apparent in 66 on 66, a coffee table book that is his latest contribution to the lore of the Mother Road. The book’s 66 images are more than a display of Moore’s photographic prowess, however. They synergistically work together to create what contributor Clark Worswick describes as “a memorial to a vanished time and place.”

Florida Roadside Attractions History: The Complete Guide to Florida Tourist Attractions Before Disney
By Ken Breslauer
Gaithersburg, Md.: Signature Book Printing, 2018
208 pages; $29.00 hardcover

Reviewed by Ralph S. Wilcox

Three years ago, my parents retired to Florida from Pennsylvania. They, like many other Northerners, fled south for warmer weather and to escape the never-ending snows that always seemed to blanket their area. It was for these very same reasons that thousands of tourists flocked to Florida every year beginning in the late 19th century.

No Vacancy: The Rise, Demise, and Reprise of America’s MotelsBy Mark Okrant, illustrations by Laura Hodgdon
Concord, New Hampshire: Plaidswede Publishing, 2013
138 pages, illus., $15.95 paper

Keith A. Sculle

Author Mark Okrant has launched readers on another nostalgic journey where small roadside lodgings serviced travelers overnight. In the introduction, he states of this book and its predecessor, Sleeping Alongside the Road (2006) they offer “a nostalgic look at the American motel, an American icon that is indelibly etched in the memories of nearly half of all Americans age forty and older” (p. ix).

Mapping Historical Las Vegas: A Cartographic Journey
By Joe Weber
Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2022
Softcover, 344 pages, $36
Reviewed by Ralph S. Wilcox

The book is liberally illustrated with more than 135 maps and photographs. I was pleasantly surprised that a book illustrated with so many maps wasn’t overly technical. Although Weber is currently a professor of geography at the University of Alabama, he grew up near Las Vegas. As a result, his intimate knowledge of Las Vegas and its surrounding area, including Boulder City, Hoover Dam, and Henderson, is apparent. Weber’s book begins with the natural setting in which Las Vegas developed, including the area’s allimportant water resources, which were vital in the initial settling of the region by the area’s indigenous groups and later by Mexicans and Mormons and the routing of the Old Spanish Trail. Initially, Las Vegas was a Mormon fort and rancho, but that changed in the early 20th century when surveyors for the railroad arrived.