Passing Gas: And Other Towns Along the American Highway

by Gary Gladstone

Book Overview

"Explaining how to find her cafE in Gas, Kansas, Bonnie Steward said, 'Come down Route 12, but if you blink, you'll pass Gas.'" Gas isn't all you'll be passing if you come along for the ride with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580084567
• ISBN13: 9781580084567
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful book

The book isn't a reference book on the origin of odd town names, rather it is a book of people in or around oddly named places across the country. The author collected maps and atlases from across the country and narrowed down the names to what you'll find in the book. His approach seemed to be two fold: either drive to the town and convince someone to pose or else call ahead and try to line up a subject through the law enforcement offices, etc. In either case, what he's done is give us wonderful portraits of not just people, but of the places they live or work near. For each town, he'd get the local folk's idea of where the name came from, often stories handed down from generation to generation. The book is presented so that when you open the book, the photograph is on the right page and the dialog is on the left. Each town has about three-quarters of a page of writing, telling something about the person, the trip to the area, how the photograph came about, and the town. Both the picture and the writing are wonderfully crafted. I've passed my book around and find that, without exception, everyone enjoys it. Quite a bargain for such good photographs.

Heartland with Heart!

This is a great peek at heartland America--or what we hope it still is... In these days of "homeland security" and carrying the big stick, this warm look at the real crossroads of our country takes us truly back to "kinder and gentler times." The people are real, the pictures are fabulous--This is a fantastic, funny book and one with a lot of heart--it is on my Christmas '03 gift-giving list because it will make everyone who receives it smile!

SERIOUS Fun, Don't Pass This Up!

I heard Gary Gladstone talk about this project on NPR's Weekend Edition and started laughing immediately. When I ordered the book and read the stories and laughed at the images, I wasn't disappointed. (I'm still laughing.)This is one funny look at America and Americans. Can you believe there are real estate agents trying to sell property in Stinking Point? There is a Police Officer with a radar gun pointed at you in Good Grief, Idaho? Gladstone visited about 60 hysterically named towns and made a portrait of a citizen who lives there. He shows these real people in really funny named towns as both warm and funny.Gladstone's America smiles at itself in the pictures and in the stories where he tells about how these silly names were picked for the towns. It's a great read!---Wallace Moon

"Passing Gas"--a little at a time!

With an excellent blend of humor and superb photographs, Gary Gladstone has produced a visual American travelogue of places along the endless blue highways of the United States.It is a look into the smaller than small towns emphasizing not only the town (one with a population of six) but the ambience of the location as well.Have you ever been behind the scenes of a photo shoot with a professional photographer? If not, this book will tell you about the pre-planning that needs to be done, the struggle for good light (or any light at all) and the trials and tribulations of a photographer "on the road".Grab a good chair, something cold to drink, and get ready to grin!

Classical Gas

A fun coffeetable book with great stories and photos alike. Takes you to all of those oddly (aptly?) named places in America that you'd never visit on purpose but often wondered what went on there and what are the people really like? Truth is stranger than fiction when it comes to some of our neighbors in these United States.