One of the best travelogues I've read, Kaplan introduces us to characters and places all over America. The people we meet are real and are an integral part of America we seldom see in the mass media. While some of his predictions about the decreasing relevance of central governments seem outdated in light of the recent financial meltdown, Kaplan's observations about the increasing importance of regional "city-states" still rings true. Kaplan does a great job of describing the sameness across America (for example, malls), and the uniqueness of our varied regions and cities.

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