Greetings from Route 66: The Ultimate Road Trip Back Through Time Along America's Main Street

(Voyager Press; $30) by Michael Karl Witzel, Jim Hinckley, Kerrick James, Lee Klancher, and Kathy Weiser

John Steinbeck famously christened Route 66 America's "Mother Road" in The Grapes of Wrath, and that chapter about Tom Joad's exodus is just one of the classic pieces collected in this ultimate anthology. Greetings from Route 66: The Ultimate Trip Through Time Along America's Main Street provides the history, roadside attractions, pop culture, ghost stories--even recipes from famous greasy spoons--from the Mother Road, documented by some of Route 66's best-known authors and photographers. And it's all illustrated with the largest collection of vintage art, postcards, travel decals, collectibles, and other memorabilia ever assembled in print, more than 800 items in total.

This is truly a worthy tribute to the Main Street of America, and one that allows you to relive the Mother Road's heyday without leaving your easy chair. Beyond nostalgia, Greetings from Route 66 is a guidebook, a cook-book, and a social history telling the story of this iconic symbol of America.