And a simple journey quickly becomes a dazzling odyssey filled with obstacles, villains and ruses fit only for heroes to overcome.īursting with life, charm and unforgettable characters, The Lincoln Highway is an extraordinary journey through 1950s America from a master storyteller. Each young man sees this journey as his chance to pursue his dreams, settle scores and find riches. Insatiable Duchess and his devoted, but slow companion Woolly soon wreck Billy's plan to get onto the open road, one well-intentioned blunder at a time. However, as soon as they've loaded Emmett's bright blue Studebaker with their few belongings, trouble arrives and brings its sidekick in the form of Duchess and Woolly, two runaways from the very facility Emmett just left behind him. Young, precocious Billy has plans of his own - to get to San Francisco, where he believes their long-estranged mother is waiting for them. The title refers to America’s first cross-country roadway for automobiles, which stretched from NY City to SFO. By car, rail and canoe, to Harlem, the Adirondacks and elsewherewith big ideas along the way. I was wowed by Towles’s writingespecially in terms of setting, plot, and themes. Amor Towles takes his characters for a ride through mid-20th century America. Since leaving the Kansas youth facility where he's served time, Emmett has wanted one thing: to give them both a fresh start - and that means heading out to the sparkling west. 14) The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles A novel about going west in a Studebaker. Emmett returns home to pick-up his little brother Billy, tie-up his late father's estate and get out of town for good.

Amor towles the lincoln highway