Roads To Quoz
An American Mosey
By: William Least Heat-Moon
Publish Date: Oct 29, 2008
ISBN: 9780316110259
Format: Hardcover, 592 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.
"As travelers age, we carry along ever more journeys, especially when we cross through a remembered terrain where we become wayfarers in time as well as space, where physical landscapes become confused with temporal ones," writes best selling author William Least Heat-Moon in his monumental book Roads To Quoz: An American Mosey. Traveling the back roads and backwaters with his wife "Q", the author seeks the interesting and unusual, in the less explored places and forgotten times of America. These off beat, and out of time, serendipitous discoveries are referred to as "quoz".
William Least Heat-Moon not only travels in space and time, but is also on a journey to self discovery. Like the arteries of the body, the waterways and highways of America are its life blood. The author undertakes the voyage both inward and outward, as he explores his personal history as a microcosm of America. Following the footsteps of many explorers, including those of his own wanderings, William Least Heat-Moon moves seamlessly from the past to the present. In his world, temporal issues mean less than their real and metaphorical connections across time and space.
William Least Heat-Moon (photo left) is a lyrical writer who delights in the unusual and unexpected places, people, and events both past and present. These quoz, as he calls them, can even be found within himself. The mythical is everywhere, and exists in all times, and the author finds its magic everywhere. William Least Heat-Moon's quixotic quest for the heart and soul of America may appear disjointed at first glance, but the journeys intersect and entwine together. As with America, and for himself, the trails of quoz form a greater whole. In many ways, they are as one.
For me, the power of the book is the author's poetic evocation of the joy of discovering the extraordinary, in seemingly ordinary people and places. Very often, those uncovered delights are within himself and his own history. William Least Heat-Moon understands that travel transforms a person and the sense of self. The new experiences, gleaned from both the journey and the eventual destination, create a new self awareness and a renewed sense of place and time. Whether that voyage of self discovery is one of movement in distance or in time, the person arriving is different from the one at the departure.
I highly recommend the powerful, and destined to be classic work Roads To Quoz: An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon, to anyone seeking a greater understanding of the heart of America, and of their own sense of place and of time. Every person and every place has a history, as well as an important story, to share. For the author, these quoz are on roads everywhere including maps, in books, through times past and present, and deep within oneself.
Read Roads To Quoz: An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon and begin your own quest for quoz. Your own roads may not lead you to unexpected places and times, but your life's journey will always be one of wonder and of self discovery.
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