I really enjoyed this part memoir, part family travelogue that also included an abundance of mini history lessons and commentary on United States politics and events. This is the first book I've read by Kendzior, and I found her writing to be both witty and beautiful. Much of the book resonated with me and it made me want to be more intentional about traveling the United States, teaching my children, and appreciating things as they are even while the world constantly changes. The doom and gloom narrative was a bit much for me, but *sigh*, she could be right. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Review: The Last American Road Trip – A Scenic Journey with a Somber Undercurrent

At its heart, The Last American Road Trip is a love letter to a country in flux. Journalist Sarah Kendzior takes readers along as she and her family traverse America’s highways, visiting historic landmarks and forgotten roadside attractions. But this isn’t just a travelogue—it’s a reflection on the state of the nation, a meditation on what America was, what it is, and what it might become.

Kendzior has a gift for weaving history into personal narrative, and her descriptions of national parks, Route 66, and small-town Americana are rich with detail. The book is at its best when it lingers on the beauty of the open road and the wonder in her children’s eyes as they explore the country’s vast landscapes.

But running beneath the nostalgia is a steady drumbeat of unease. Kendzior sees a nation in decline, and her concerns about democracy, economic hardship, and political turmoil are ever-present. While her perspective is deeply felt, it can, at times, overshadow the journey itself, making the book feel less like a travel memoir and more like an urgent warning.

Still, there’s something undeniably moving about this journey—a mother showing her children the best of America, even as she fears for its future. Thought-provoking and evocative, but occasionally unrelenting in its grimness, The Last American Road Trip earns a respectable B-.

I will not be able to finish this book. Although I share the author's political views, I cannot read or listen to them at such great length and with such stridency. Much too depressing for me right now.

In this memoir of a bygone America, Kendzior takes us on a cross country road trip that's steeped in the history of places falling into disrepair or in danger of disappearing altogether, mirrored by the state of our democracy. What begins as a journey of nostalgia for a country that once was, the myth of the American dream seems to crumble as the author reconciles a fraught history with the realization that not much has changed. America still can't grapple with its ideology of "the land of the free" and the "pursuit of happiness" while rolling back rights and the increasing difficulty to make ends meet in a country drunk on greedy oligarchs, religious zealotry and hyperindividualism. The rundown roadside attractions, national parks, and fabled highways such as Route 66 are a backdrop to Kendzior's elegy for a country in decline.

What begins as a desire to show her children the country she loves turns into a meditation on the hostile history and tenuous future of America the "great." Well written, thoughtful, and colloquial, The Last American Road Trip is a scenic ride over bumpy back roads.

Thank you to Flatiron books for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed hearing about all the little tid bits of history throughout the book. The nuggets of knowledge were interesting and stories I had never heard. I liked the book overall but, I had to overlook the authors feeling of impending doom. I agree with her stances but would think it would be exhausting to continuously think the US is going to seize to exist. While it absolutely feels that way, especially given the current political climate, it felt a bit depressing at times.

I appreciated her parenting style and expansive knowledge she shares with her children. I can imagine the children will look back on these roadtrips with fond memories.

Thank you to #netgalley and #sarahKendzior for providing this ARC audio in exchange for my honest review.

“You’ll look back on this time, I hope you do, that we could drive around on a nice spring day and go where we want and think what we want and just be a family, out for a ride in America.”

From caves and mines to starry skies the Kendzior family roadtrips throughout the country, stopping along the way to explore people and places both familiar and unknown. From toddlerhood to teenage years, this covers a wide span of time and a quickly changing physical and emotional landscape.

This memoir reads like a collection of short stories; histories of national parks and monuments, with some fascinating details. Each visit and explanation of the different locations is enveloped in both curiosity and a sense of doom. The warning is an undercurrent throughout the pages and the foreshadowing of our government’s stifling of free ideas and access to our beloved natural landscape is haunting in its accuracy.

I read with despondency, as the current news cycle sadly dovetails with the ominous warnings the author outlines. I felt so enraged and devastated that I could hear the author’s voice in my head screaming, “I told you so!” Awful timing, through no fault of the author or publisher, but this was an incredibly difficult reading experience. The activist in me is exhausted and horrified by the everyday headlines of the destruction of our country, our people and our natural world and my sincere wish is to read it again when the backdrop is more hopeful.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Last American Road Trip: A Memoir by Sarah Kendzior, takes us on a trip through America that most people like me don’t get to experience. Weaving in her family experiences while visiting some of the greatest historical sites in our country, we are emersed in a journey which demonstrates the consistent evolution of American culture and the United States landscape.

While her politics may alienate some readers, listening to this her narration of this book clear demonstrates her love for her country. Her narration style was engaging and very easy to follow. In addition, I received an eARC and Audio for this book and was able to seamlessly switch between the two. I strongly recommend this book for those who love to learn about American History.

Thank you Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and read this book. All Opinions are my own.

Rating: 4 Stars
Audio and Print Pub Date Apr 01 2025

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Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the Audio ARC!

The Last American Road Trip was my introduction to Sarah Kendzior's writing. It's safe to say that it won't be the last thing of hers that I read. I found her writing style to be a perfect mix of cynicism, heartfelt sentiment, and hopefulness. I appreciate the difficulty of committing some of the sentiments expressed in this book to writing and then sending them out into the world, and I appreciate her frankness and vulnerability. In this time of continuing (and ever-increasing) societal, environmental, and political pressures, it's rare to see someone who doesn't sugarcoat the situation we're in, but who still expresses a love of country and a hope for the lives of her children. Hearing these things in the author's own voice increased the weight and also the meaningfulness of the book. Highly recommended.

A lovely, heartbreaking elegy for what I used to love about America: adventure, freedom, connection, HOPE. Kendzior writes beautifully about the various trips she and her family have taken on the American roads and the wild, wonderful sites and people they found along the way. Sad.

This book is a memoir of the author's multiple trips through national parks at different stages of her own life and children's ages. It seamlessly weaves personal experience and impressions with history and local information, and introspective stream of consciousness about where our country and world is headed

The Last American Road Trip made me feel many things - both nostalgia for my childhood, spent similar to Sarah Kendzior's years with her kids on the road, but also sorrow for the country as a while.

This was a poignant reminder that we should enjoy our country (and world) around us before it is altered. Sprinkled throughout the US National Park callouts and the states visited is a very doom and gloom feeling about the political landscape.

While I enjoyed the audiobook with the author as the narrator, I also had to take a step back and realize she is quite the pessimist in her writing. While I agree that the current political situation evokes negative feelings, the author goes a step further and gives me her belief that the world may cease to exist imminently. This lead me to reduce a star in the overall rating because it seemed a bit too extreme for me.

Overall, I would still recommend this book, especially if you were raised roadtripping throughout the USA. Her dedication to seeing all of the states and exposing her kids to the beauty of what the country has to offer reminded me that I need to take more time with my family to not just explore cities, but also take hiking trails through the immense beauty of the US wilderness.