Everyone seems to be doing travelogues these days. Which is fine when they serve a point. In this, the main character breaks up with his girlfriend via text and then starts driving a motorcycle from New York to San Francisco the next day. The entries though are just random asides from his travels along U.S. 30. It's all very boring. The art is terrible.

I always like a book in which narrator is first person. He can observe things and can tell how these akter his feelings. It feels like you are walking in the story. No guessing work.
In this story after being dumped by his girlfriend a man undertakes a bike journey through American. He covers big Lincoln Highway.
He describes people, towns, feelings and thril of flying alone.
Artwork is excellent. All shadows are highlighted expertly.
Captions are heart warming.
A wonderful and different sort of graphic novel.
I was late to read it but I am happy I found it hidden somewhere in my phone
Thanks netgalley and publisher for review copy.

A decent read. Not the most engaging graphic novel I've encountered, but worth a weekend. Anyone who has experienced heartbreak, and anyone who knows the call of the road can empathize with the main character in this one.

After his girlfriend breaks up with him via text message a man embarks on a brooding cross-country motorcycle trip.

The black & white artwork is very basic, primitive with an impressionist sensibility. At times peoples faces look as though they were created using Jim Henson's Muppets as a template.

The story reads less like a travelogue and more like random journal entries. Kind of like listening to the reminisces of someone as they look through an old photo album.

A little too avant-garde for my taste.

***Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this graphic novel, but I'm not crazy about it. It tells an engaging story but the art didn't awe me. It's simple, and, at first look, uninspiring. I had to get used to it to fully engage in the story and it lowers the rating

Well worth a read anyway..

Bernard Chambaz and Barroux take readers on a scenic road trip through the United States in 750cc Down Lincoln Highway. The structure of the travel diary sits on the line between sequential art and photography coffee table books. Barroux visualizes Chambaz's journal with a handful of standalone scenes on each page. The scenes offer no illusion of movement or illustration of the passage of time. Chambaz's words (translated from French by Joe Johnson) sit alongside the art rather than interacting with it. The structure suits the story. Chambaz's panels are often up-close depictions of candid moments or scenic shots of the landscape or a passing town. It gives the impression of someone taping photos into a notebook as they chronicle their journey through each locale. It's a shame the pages are in black and white as colors would make those shots all the more evocative. The issue is that Chambaz doesn't have much to say about the areas he's passing through. He peppers the book with brief historical anecdotes and moments of personal reflection as he tries to get over the girl that dumped him. There's nothing insightful to glean from either the summary history or the light introspection. But the book does instill the feeling of looking out the passenger side window as a friend drives down the highway. There are worse ways to spend an afternoon.

At first, I was confused. This book seemed scattered, abrupt, and non-cohesive.
I decided to keep reading, and am glad I did, because about halfway through I finally got it. The book starts with the author getting dumped by his gf, without understanding the reason. The pictures and text reflect his mood, thoughts and feelings. Starting off on his bike trip, he is confused, hurt, and a bit lost, trying to make sense of getting dumped.
As the trip goes on, he starts to turn his attention outwards, starts noticing scenery, people and sights. At this point, the text gets more descriptive and detailed, reflecting the author processing the end of his relationship and making peace with it.

This book is brilliant. In less than 90 pages it says more than many 400+ paged novels. I felt the authors emotions leap from the pages.
Such a short and deceptively simple work, yet so deep and rich. I’m very glad I was given the opportunity to read and review a free copy provided to me through NetGalley

750cc Down Lincoln Highway is a graphic novel in black and white. The images are simple and without embellishment. The story is about a young guy who is about to run in a marathon. One hour before starting he gets a message from his girlfriend that says "we're finished". Instead of running the race he goes to a local bar and has shots of bourbon. There at the bar he meets a gentleman who gives him two words of advise about the break-up; #1 You forget her". and #2 "You take off". They have a conversation about the Lincoln Hwy. A road that crosses the USA from East coat to West coast. The main character(we never get a name) decides to rent a shadow 750 motorcycle and takes off for the Lincoln Hwy.
The body of the novel is about the main characters roadtrip on the Lincoln Hwy. The reader gets snip its about the towns that he cruises through. Towns like Gettysburg; where he sees a battlefield from Civil War, Mt. Ararat: where he meets a guy who spread his father's ashes there and comes back to visit every year. He travels to Pittsburgh where he randomly meets a guy with a rooftop garden and Eat Liverpool; where he stays in a hotel that once housed the body of Pretty Boy Floyd. Each stop is marked by some small importance.
There is a moment in the novel when the character says "Monotony doesn't bother me." Maybe he needed the monotonous feel of the road ahead of him to work his way through the sadness and depression that he was feeling because of the break-up. As more and more miles gather behind him he feels the sadness fading away.
When he finally makes it to Berkley, he takes the time to park his motorcycle and run for the first time. He then finishes his drive at Poteau Terminus, Lincoln Hwy and finally answers the text from the girlfriend. He answers "Game Over". He needed the time and the roadtrip to find his comfort zone.
This book reads sort of in a monotonous flow. But it is the process of monotony in the book that gives the heart broken boyfriend his path to peace and forgiveness.

One day our narrator is going to just start running a marathon when he finds he's been dumped by text. The very next he's hired a 750cc motorbike and is going to travel for weeks to get from the east coast to the other seaboard, and to hell with it. The narration has the brisk brusqueness of that initial decision, and in barely staying in one place for a second page almost acts as commentary to the black and white painted postcards that are the illustrations, as opposed to any real storytelling. That said, by the end we do indeed see a different way of going coast to coast than the usual Route 66, and of course we see a different man on the handlebars. Not an earth-shattering road trip, but three and a half stars at least.

750cc Down Lincoln Highway by Bernard Chambaz is a graphic novel of unexpected adventure. Chambaz is a French novelist, historian, and poet, winner of several French literary prizes including the prestigious Goncourt for his first novel, L'Arbre de vies.

What is a runner to do when right before the start of a marathon he gets a breakup text instead of well-wishing? He goes to a bar and drinks bourbon. A discussion begins with another patron and the Lincoln Highway becomes the subject of conversation. This leads our author to rent a motorcycle and ride the highway from New York to California. The general feeling as someone who rides is that the author may be new to riding. He refers to his Honda Shadow as a 750cc motorcycle, which it is, but displacement is usually used to describe sportbikes and not cruisers. A Honda Shadow is a Shadow and those in the know understand its a750. Riding in the rain also seems to be a new experience for Chamaz.

What makes this worth reading is the separation of life experiences. Riding to forget his ex-girlfriend or at least come to terms with the breakup. Second, it is separating her from his running. And finally, it is about the ride and the other riders one meets and places that are seen. Runners have their cliques and groupings but people on motorcycles are a closer group, strangers on the road are quick to bond and share stories and help. The road itself is a much different place on a motorcycle, It is not the same road that one experiences in a car. A good book on life, people, and healing.