Here, There, Elsewhere: Stories from the Road
William Least Heat-Moon is an ambitious traveler, as evidenced by the triad of books for which he鈥檚 best known. He motored down America鈥檚 back roads in 鈥淏lue Highways,鈥� footed it through a Kansas county in 鈥淧rairyErth,鈥� and took to the water to cross the continent in 鈥淩iver-Horse.鈥� The words 鈥渆pic鈥� and 鈥渜uest鈥� come to mind.
Billed as an unprecedented anthology of the author鈥檚 short-form travel writing, Here, There, Elsewhere: Stories from the Road brings together pieces published between 1983 and 2011, requiring of the reader no commitment to a prolonged quest but, rather, offering more easily consumed dips into various reaches of the world map framed by Least Heat-Moon鈥檚 interesting, atypical mind-set.
In one telling piece, the author frames his plan of attack for completing 鈥淧rairyErth,鈥� and his strategy might be called the anti-鈥淓at, Pray, Love鈥� approach (although it predated the bestseller by decades). His assertion that 鈥渁 journey that exists primarily to express the soul of its traveler鈥� is 鈥渁 threat to good travel reporting today鈥� is a foreshadowing of many of today鈥檚 鈥渙nce was lost but now am found鈥� first-person accounts of self-discovery.
Least Heat-Moon鈥檚 focus is not self, but place and its history. Take 鈥淯p Among the Roadside Gods,鈥� a piece on the backcountry of Japan. The author and his interpreter, Tadashi, find out that they both have childhoods that began in the World War II era, and soon they are supping on homemade pickles and barley tea with farm families. But Least Heat-Moon then finds his way to what interests him more than the rural meals or populace 鈥� those aspects of place and history that make a locale simultaneously unique and universal. In this instance the trip鈥檚 icons are the Dosojin, Shinto roadside gods that dot the mountaintop. The granite carvings date back to the 17th century and are 鈥渕ade in the image of peasant realities鈥� 鈥� they dance, kiss, and copulate; they stand looking outward, dressed in ordinary garb. Their constant presence links place to meaning, demonstrating 鈥渁 capacity for deity 鈥� in the human.鈥�
Not all of Least Heat-Moon鈥檚 musings get to this depth of profundity 鈥� the author talks about the courage needed to face black pudding on the far Scottish islands and memories evoked by his search for a particular genus of Lake Superior smoked fish. Had he so chosen, Least Heat-Moon could have established himself primarily as a food writer. In 鈥淢orning in Manarola,鈥� he knocks back a bowl of potent olives, pasta with potatoes (a Ligurian specialty), and a pear-flavored dessert wine. The next day, it鈥檚 unexpectedly delectable anchovies after his morning espresso.
But the author has more in mind than conjuring up local flavor; in fact he eschews places that draw hungry tourists. Least Heat-Moon is at his finest when in often overlooked places 鈥� whether a void on his road map that is dirt-deviled southeast Oregon or the intimacies of topography surrounding his Missouri home. He likes to philosophize and has a rangy vocabulary (keep a dictionary at hand).
He also voices his faith that his readers will join him as members of the 鈥淏ecause It鈥檚 There Association of Not-Yet-Jaded Travelers.鈥� He uses this term in 鈥淎 Land for the Resolutely Curious,鈥� which describes a float down the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, replete with great swaths of nonscenery. Least Heat-Moon admits that even the most resolute might 鈥渉ope for a passing tow, a sunken barge, a bridge, a noisy rise of ricebirds 鈥� anything to disrupt the purgatory of rectilinearity.鈥� But he offers a wealth of reflection to be had in even the more barren of travel choices.
In the end it鈥檚 clear that a foray into 鈥淗ere, There, Elsewhere,鈥� like the mix of exotic jaunts and 鈥渕ore disregarded than discovered鈥� places it chronicles, is worth the investment in time, a good dictionary, and open-mindedness. Long live the Resolutely Curious!
