Slow Road to Brownsville

An adventurous Englishman explores the forgotten landscape of America’s Wild West in this “illuminating, elegantly written travelogue” (Financial Times).

In his acclaimed memoir Swan River, David Reynolds invited readers into the world of his youth, growing up in Manitoba, Canada. Now, in Slow Road to Brownsville, Reynolds brings readers on a road trip along Highway 83, a little-known two-lane highway that runs from his Canadian hometown to the Mexican border at Brownsville, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico.

Enthralled by the myth of the American West and the romance of the open road, Reynolds explores the realities behind both as he makes his way between small towns, gas stations, and motels, hanging out in bars with the locals and learning the stories of this forgotten region that was once the frontier. Along the way he encounters many legendary figures from North American history, including Lewis and Clark, Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill, Davy Crockett, and even Truman Capote.