AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL?

A Brooklyn-based humor writer and comedian travels the U.S. seeking freedom and adventure.

In her latest book, Roberson, author of How To Date Men When You Hate Men, recounts her trip across the country with the goal of writing “a female American travel narrative” in the vein of those written by Jack Kerouac. “My book,” she writes, “would answer the question: what if Bill Bryson got his period?” Despite safety warnings from her family and friends, Roberson quit her job and ventured out in a borrowed Toyota Prius, traveling predominately west across the U.S., hitting popular national parks along the way. Though she set out to chronicle the next Great American Road Trip, “acquiring Junior Ranger badges was the organizing principle of my trip.” At each destination, Roberson gives brief, occasionally intriguing details about the history and wildlife of the area, but she seems more content completing the activities in the Junior Ranger booklet than deeply experiencing each region. Most of her stops involved a short hike, where she wanders the landscape and flirts with park rangers, before dashing off to her next location. Throughout the narrative, Roberson shares information she learned regarding the effects of climate change and offers well-intentioned yet overly familiar, surface-level critical discussions of the European genocide of Indigenous peoples in North America. Further, she questions the morality of visiting national parks, including the part she is playing. Though she contends that one should not feel guilty for enjoying the national park system, “we should work toward returning control of the parks to Native Americans.” While many of her political and environmental points have validity, few of them are novel. The author’s goal of writing a memorable female American travel narrative is commendable, but she tries to accomplish too much, skating across numerous themes and tones, resulting in a book that fails to leave a lasting impression.

An admirable work that falls short of its goal.