Hit the road, Jack(et Copy)

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Above: Friends helping me make my departure from Pittsburgh possible are, from left, Jamie Bono, Robert Yune, Emily Stone and Paul Ruggiero.

There is a grand road trip tradition in American letters that I find irresistible. Today I embark on another cross-country drive, and what I discovered, while packing, was that I have a lot of books (including a vintage paperback copy of Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ with a man in a striped shirt and jaunty neck scarf). Perhaps an insane amount of books. Even after purging and triaging, books and books and books. Unlike Kerouac, I do not travel light.

My trip will take me south from Pittsburgh to Florida, then west, clear across the country, to Los Angeles. Along the way I will do as much reading as I can: A select few (dozen) books will ride up front with me.

But to make it a truly literary road trip, I plan to visit some literary landmarks along the way. The Washington Post wrote up several in Georgia, and it looks like the ‘On the Road’ scroll is on display through May 31 in Austin, Tex. Obviously, that’s not a complete literary tour. What are your suggestions?

Carolyn Kellogg