June 16, 2003
Technological revolution makes the unthinkable routine—and what could be more quotidian than an automobile trip across America? Yet at one time such a notion seemed about as likely to succeed as jumping Niagara in a barrel. Burns and Dayton are responsible for the upcoming PBS film about the adventurous first-ever car trip from coast to coast; this is the picture-packed print companion. Impetuously responding to a dare in May 1903, Dr. Horatio Jackson rashly wagered $50 that he could traverse the continent in 90 days. Bankrolled by his wealthy wife and accompanied by mechanic friend Sewall Crocker, Jackson set out for New York from San Francisco. Crossing a landscape devoid of paved roads, roadmaps and streetlights in a vehicle without multiple gears, roof or windshield and capable of a mere 30 mph, the two men ran into considerable problems in Northern California, Oregon and Idaho. (Meanwhile, other, corporate-backed aspirants to the distinction of being first across the country were hot on their heels.) Hardly anybody they encountered had ever seen an automobile before, so the men repeatedly became local heroes before becoming celebrities on a national scale. Few can match nationally famous PBS documentarian Burns's skill at evoking the past visually, and this book does nothing to undo that reputation. (Any picture featuring Bud, the goggled bulldog they adopted on the way, is a winner.) Meanwhile, Duncan, responsible for the research and the text, delivers a graceful, concise, engrossing account.
September 1, 2003
In 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson, a 31-year-old doctor from Vermont, made a bet that he could drive a car from San Francisco to New York. At the time, there were only 150 miles of paved roads in the U.S., many of them east of the Mississippi. Most Americans had never seen a car, never mind taken a ride in one, and gas stations and road maps were practically nonexistent. Nevertheless, the intrepid Jackson (along with his mechanic pal, Sewall Crocker, and, later, a goggles-wearing bulldog named Bud) succeeded in completing the nation's first cross-country road trip in just over two months. Historian Duncan and documentary filmmaker Burns read the bulk of this audio adaptation, which is a companion to the forthcoming PBS film, with all the enthusiasm of a pair of travelers setting off on the open road. Their telling is often enhanced by music: a jaunty banjo sings when things are moving along nicely, and an agitated piano protests when the car gets stuck in mud for the umpteenth time. Hanks reads the letters Jackson sends home to his wife, lending Jackson the air of a sympathetic everyman. When the 20-horsepower open air vehicle finally cruises into Manhattan, a band plays as the narrators' voices burst with excitement and pride. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Forecasts, June 16).