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Slow Road to Brownsville: A Journey Through the Heart of the Old West
In Slow Road to Brownsville, Englishman David Reynolds embarks on a road trip along Highway 83, a little known two lane highway that runs from Swan River, Manitoba, to the Mexican border at Brownsville, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico.
Enthralled by the myth of the Wild 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 middle of North America. 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.
Enthralled by the myth of the Wild 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 middle of North America. 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.
- GenresTravelHistoryNonfiction
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2014
3 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
David Reynolds
2 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. For more information please see David Reynolds.
From Wikipedia:
David Clifton Reynolds (born October 1948) is an author and publisher.
Reynolds was born in London and worked as a sub-editor of Oz magazine, editorial assistant on the Rationalist Press Association's Humanist journal, and editor of The Freethinker before graduation from the London School of Economics. He went on to work in publishing, working at Reader's Digest and becoming a co-founder of Bloomsbury Publishing in 1986. In 1999 he left Bloomsbury to pursue a career as a writer. He was a co-founder and has been a director of Old Street Publishing since 2006. He is married and has three daughters. He lives in London.
Reynold's first book, Swan River (2001), was short-listed for the PEN/Ackerley Prize for Autobiography.
From Wikipedia:
David Clifton Reynolds (born October 1948) is an author and publisher.
Reynolds was born in London and worked as a sub-editor of Oz magazine, editorial assistant on the Rationalist Press Association's Humanist journal, and editor of The Freethinker before graduation from the London School of Economics. He went on to work in publishing, working at Reader's Digest and becoming a co-founder of Bloomsbury Publishing in 1986. In 1999 he left Bloomsbury to pursue a career as a writer. He was a co-founder and has been a director of Old Street Publishing since 2006. He is married and has three daughters. He lives in London.
Reynold's first book, Swan River (2001), was short-listed for the PEN/Ackerley Prize for Autobiography.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 25, 2014
I haven’t had this much fun with a straight-up travel book in a long time. There’s a definite Bill Bryson flavor to Slow Road, though Reynolds is never as deliberately funny. What makes this book particularly successful is its narrow focus – one highway, from one end to another – and Reynolds’s background as a history professor at Cambridge. He wears his learning lightly, but uses it to illuminate everything he sees on the way with fascinating background info.
In brief, Reynolds set out to drive the length of Highway 83, which stretches 2300 miles from Manitoba to the Mexican border. He traveled more than twice that distance in the end, going off route to see the sites and find recommended hotels and restaurants, but he was always careful to come back and do each segment of 83 at least once. The initial inspiration came from the fact that his grandfather lived in Manitoba’s Swan River Valley from 1905 until his death in 1910 – a bittersweet memory, as his grandfather had abandoned his family and set off alone.
Asked why he’d come, Reynolds simply said, “To drive down the road to Mexico slowly and have a good look at what’s there.” Route 83 is Great Plains country, cutting down the middle of the Louisiana Purchase; it goes through the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, the Oklahoma panhandle and much of Texas until it reaches Brownsville, on the US–Mexico border. Reynolds visits a rodeo, a casino, a ranch and many a historic monument, but a lot of stops are just no-name towns with average restaurants and ordinary folks. He meets a whole lot of waitresses and barflies.
People are friendly and enjoy talking with (at?) Reynolds. He wonders why: “Does my Englishness appeal to him? Or is it that, being English, I am too polite to cut into the stream of words and say that I have to go? I’ve been told that I’m a good listener, and now I rest my forearms on the passenger window of Charles’s car, lean in, and excel.” Later he imagines himself becoming something of a caricature: “‘Really? Gosh!’ I say, sounding more and more like an Englishman created by P.G. Wodehouse.” (Alas, the poor chap never does work out what Americans mean by biscuits; he confuses a supermarket employee by asking first for cookies and then for crackers, and calls what he gets alongside his fried chicken a “scone.”)
Like Bryson, Reynolds is enough of an outsider to make acute observations on peculiarly American habits. He is baffled by gun culture (but, alas, doesn’t set foot in a church), Glenn Beck on the radio, and enduring racism. He discovers that black people are much less well regarded than Native Americans, perhaps, one cynic suggests, because Indians are seen as isolated and not posing any economic threat. (However, he does meet one man in Kansas who says local Pakistani immigrants were poisoning the swimming pool with their “slime” – yipes!)
There’s one thing Reynolds just can’t stop harping on about, though, and that’s obesity. “Immensely unslim” is his not terribly kind or successful euphemism for “fat.” It’s funny the first few times he says it, but his mentions of people’s size seem a bit obsessive – and not completely fair, either, given how much of a problem obesity is in the UK as well. Plus, head east a state or two and some of those large conservatives could be my relatives. Depending on your outlook, you may find this aspect of the book a bit offensive. (I can see what Lori L means.)
My favorite parts of the book were about the Lewis & Clark expedition and Native American history, though a lot of it – massacres, broken treaties, the Trail of the Tears, reservations, alcoholism – isn’t exactly uplifting reading. I also enjoyed an interlude in Kansas, where he learns of a recent influx of immigrants to support the beef industry and visits the town that inspired Capote’s In Cold Blood.
Reynolds makes reference to some other iconic American road trip books, such as Travels with Charley, On the Road and Blue Highways (the latter two I really must read). I’d say this book is worthy to join those, and Bryson’s, on an Americana travel shelf.
Recommended read-alikes:
• The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King (a survey of stereotypes and cultural contributions)
• The Ogallala Road by Julene Bair (an unusual memoir about water conservation in the Midwest)
• Under the Same Stars by Tim Lott (in this 2012 novel, an Englishman joins his long-lost brother for a Southern road trip)
In brief, Reynolds set out to drive the length of Highway 83, which stretches 2300 miles from Manitoba to the Mexican border. He traveled more than twice that distance in the end, going off route to see the sites and find recommended hotels and restaurants, but he was always careful to come back and do each segment of 83 at least once. The initial inspiration came from the fact that his grandfather lived in Manitoba’s Swan River Valley from 1905 until his death in 1910 – a bittersweet memory, as his grandfather had abandoned his family and set off alone.
Asked why he’d come, Reynolds simply said, “To drive down the road to Mexico slowly and have a good look at what’s there.” Route 83 is Great Plains country, cutting down the middle of the Louisiana Purchase; it goes through the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, the Oklahoma panhandle and much of Texas until it reaches Brownsville, on the US–Mexico border. Reynolds visits a rodeo, a casino, a ranch and many a historic monument, but a lot of stops are just no-name towns with average restaurants and ordinary folks. He meets a whole lot of waitresses and barflies.
People are friendly and enjoy talking with (at?) Reynolds. He wonders why: “Does my Englishness appeal to him? Or is it that, being English, I am too polite to cut into the stream of words and say that I have to go? I’ve been told that I’m a good listener, and now I rest my forearms on the passenger window of Charles’s car, lean in, and excel.” Later he imagines himself becoming something of a caricature: “‘Really? Gosh!’ I say, sounding more and more like an Englishman created by P.G. Wodehouse.” (Alas, the poor chap never does work out what Americans mean by biscuits; he confuses a supermarket employee by asking first for cookies and then for crackers, and calls what he gets alongside his fried chicken a “scone.”)
Like Bryson, Reynolds is enough of an outsider to make acute observations on peculiarly American habits. He is baffled by gun culture (but, alas, doesn’t set foot in a church), Glenn Beck on the radio, and enduring racism. He discovers that black people are much less well regarded than Native Americans, perhaps, one cynic suggests, because Indians are seen as isolated and not posing any economic threat. (However, he does meet one man in Kansas who says local Pakistani immigrants were poisoning the swimming pool with their “slime” – yipes!)
There’s one thing Reynolds just can’t stop harping on about, though, and that’s obesity. “Immensely unslim” is his not terribly kind or successful euphemism for “fat.” It’s funny the first few times he says it, but his mentions of people’s size seem a bit obsessive – and not completely fair, either, given how much of a problem obesity is in the UK as well. Plus, head east a state or two and some of those large conservatives could be my relatives. Depending on your outlook, you may find this aspect of the book a bit offensive. (I can see what Lori L means.)
My favorite parts of the book were about the Lewis & Clark expedition and Native American history, though a lot of it – massacres, broken treaties, the Trail of the Tears, reservations, alcoholism – isn’t exactly uplifting reading. I also enjoyed an interlude in Kansas, where he learns of a recent influx of immigrants to support the beef industry and visits the town that inspired Capote’s In Cold Blood.
Reynolds makes reference to some other iconic American road trip books, such as Travels with Charley, On the Road and Blue Highways (the latter two I really must read). I’d say this book is worthy to join those, and Bryson’s, on an Americana travel shelf.
Recommended read-alikes:
• The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King (a survey of stereotypes and cultural contributions)
• The Ogallala Road by Julene Bair (an unusual memoir about water conservation in the Midwest)
• Under the Same Stars by Tim Lott (in this 2012 novel, an Englishman joins his long-lost brother for a Southern road trip)
April 11, 2025
A rather nice account of a drive from Canada to Mexico along Route 83, by a liberal British man, in the era when Obama was President. Along the way he learns alot about Native American history, racism and US food. Spends rather too much time commenting on the weight of the Americans he meets. Plenty of road trip inspiration here.
August 13, 2021
A nice surprise of a book I picked up for $2 at a church rummage sale. Reynolds drives from Swan River Manitoba to Brownsville Texas on the Mexican border. The trip is mainly on two lane roads and through small towns. He has lots of interesting encounters with people, sees a variety of landscapes and visits places from Western history like Dodge City, Abilene, Holcum, Chisholm Trail, The Alamo and Laredo. These places are associated with Lewis and Clark, Custer, Sitting Bull, Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill, Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. Of course the stores all theses people and places are intertwined with the history of the First Nations and Mexican people along the way.
I enjoyed the book so much that I ordered his other book "Slow Road to San Francisco" about an east to west journey.
I enjoyed the book so much that I ordered his other book "Slow Road to San Francisco" about an east to west journey.
September 18, 2021
Amazing
It took me so long to read this book.
Every town, village or ghost town that was written about, I simply had to Google and find out more.
At certain points, I looked up Street View and followed miles and miles worth of Route 83. I feel like I've been there myself.
Because of this one book, I have bought several other mentioned ones and have more on order.
Am just about to start on another one.
It took me so long to read this book.
Every town, village or ghost town that was written about, I simply had to Google and find out more.
At certain points, I looked up Street View and followed miles and miles worth of Route 83. I feel like I've been there myself.
Because of this one book, I have bought several other mentioned ones and have more on order.
Am just about to start on another one.
July 18, 2017
A great description of a road trip from Canada south on one road Highway 83, to the Mexican border. He sums up small town America beautifully, and it has got me planning a road trip to take in vast stretches of the 83 so I can experience some of the small towns he visited too.
March 7, 2017
A slow and thoughtful drive down Highway 83 from Manitoba to Brownsville, Texas.
October 12, 2014
Slow Road to Brownsville: A Journey Through the Heart of the Old West by David Reynolds is a recommended nonfiction account of an Englishman's travels and personal reflections as he journeys down Highway 83.
While visiting Swan River, Manitoba, where his grandfather lived from 1905-1910, Reynold's learns that Highway 83 goes all the way across the middle of the USA to Brownsville, Texas. This planted the idea of traveling the route. He is curious what lies along Highway 83. What are the Great Plains and Middle American towns and cities like today? He wants to examine the history and current conditions of the Native Americans as he explores what he comes across on the highway. He also examines the history of the various cities, attractions, and areas he travels through. Reynolds grew up watching Westerns and road movies so this trip seemed like the perfect way to see the country he fantasized about as a child and compare the reality today to various other road trips that have been written about over the years.
"Whether 83 is the longest is contentious. One source says it is the fifth longest, but takes into account only the 1,894 miles within the United States. Only two other U.S. Highways still continue up into Canada (Highways 1 and 59). Neither reaches as far north as 83. Going south, once it leaves Manitoba and enters the United States, 83 travels through six states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, a narrow strip of Oklahoma known as the Panhandle, and Texas. From Swan River to Brownsville on 83 is 2,271 miles. "
The start of Reynold's book gave all indications that Slow Road to Brownsville was going to be a rather charming account of an Englishman exploring the sights along Highway 83, which it is to some extent, but it lost some of that charm for me when numerous people he encountered were seemingly always described by their enormous girth and as he repeatedly managed to tune into a talk radio program that espouse beliefs contrary to his own. I'm fine with accurately describing people and certainly weight is a factor, but it did grow rather tiring to consistently have weight alone as a main description. As for the rather strident talk radio host he intensely dislikes... One mention, fine, two is enough. Beyond that it became annoying for me and I just wanted to say, "It is in your power to turn to another radio station."
Setting those annoyances aside, I really appreciated the inclusion of quotes from and pertinent descriptions mentioned in the numerous road trip books written over the years whose authors explored the same areas. As is my wont, I also always appreciate the inclusion of a bibliography and maps showing his route. The discography of music is a nice touch.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Greystone Books for review purposes.
While visiting Swan River, Manitoba, where his grandfather lived from 1905-1910, Reynold's learns that Highway 83 goes all the way across the middle of the USA to Brownsville, Texas. This planted the idea of traveling the route. He is curious what lies along Highway 83. What are the Great Plains and Middle American towns and cities like today? He wants to examine the history and current conditions of the Native Americans as he explores what he comes across on the highway. He also examines the history of the various cities, attractions, and areas he travels through. Reynolds grew up watching Westerns and road movies so this trip seemed like the perfect way to see the country he fantasized about as a child and compare the reality today to various other road trips that have been written about over the years.
"Whether 83 is the longest is contentious. One source says it is the fifth longest, but takes into account only the 1,894 miles within the United States. Only two other U.S. Highways still continue up into Canada (Highways 1 and 59). Neither reaches as far north as 83. Going south, once it leaves Manitoba and enters the United States, 83 travels through six states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, a narrow strip of Oklahoma known as the Panhandle, and Texas. From Swan River to Brownsville on 83 is 2,271 miles. "
The start of Reynold's book gave all indications that Slow Road to Brownsville was going to be a rather charming account of an Englishman exploring the sights along Highway 83, which it is to some extent, but it lost some of that charm for me when numerous people he encountered were seemingly always described by their enormous girth and as he repeatedly managed to tune into a talk radio program that espouse beliefs contrary to his own. I'm fine with accurately describing people and certainly weight is a factor, but it did grow rather tiring to consistently have weight alone as a main description. As for the rather strident talk radio host he intensely dislikes... One mention, fine, two is enough. Beyond that it became annoying for me and I just wanted to say, "It is in your power to turn to another radio station."
Setting those annoyances aside, I really appreciated the inclusion of quotes from and pertinent descriptions mentioned in the numerous road trip books written over the years whose authors explored the same areas. As is my wont, I also always appreciate the inclusion of a bibliography and maps showing his route. The discography of music is a nice touch.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Greystone Books for review purposes.
July 10, 2016
I have traveled fairly extensively in the United States. But there is a big gap in my footprint that involves everything that lies in between places you get to by landing in Chicago or in Denver. This book fills that gap. The author journeys down the 1920’s era state route 83, starting in Manitoba and ending in Brownsville, Texas. He passes through, slowly, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Aside from Texas I’ve never set foot in any of those states. As a Prius owner I can appreciate that is the car he did it in.
Reynolds gets a first look at what he was going to be seeing at a motel breakfast café in Melita, Manitoba, one of the last stops before the U.S border. He enters from a parking lot filled with SUVs and pickups into a dining room with about 25 people, 16 wearing baseball caps.
He drives through towns like Oberlin, Kan., which “seems like the middle-class suburban American town that we British see in films – the place where, early in the morning, newspapers, thrown by paperboys riding bikes, thud onto porches.” And towns like Paducah, Texas, which makes him feel like he is “looking at the remains of a small town America that thrived 50 years ago.” He even catches a couple of small town rodeos where he secretly cheers for the calves who escape before they get roped.
As an inquisitive Englishman he gets away with asking questions that might draw some sideways glances if I were to ask. Questions like “Is it okay to call them Indians?” or “Do cowboys still exist?” This is very much a story of the friendly people he meets along the way, most of whom happen to be sitting on the nearest bar stool. Guys like Dallas in Mobridge, S.D., who advises “We’re different from the people on the coasts, and we’re proud of that.”
There’s also a lot of history on Route 83 and Reynolds relays tales of historical figures like Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea, Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill. One of my favorites stories is about Sitting Bull. The Sioux chief was invited to speak in Bismarck, S.D., in 1883 on the occasion of the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Speaking in Sioux he commented “I hate all white people. You are thieves and liars.” Of course his white audience hadn’t a clue what he was saying and the interpreter instead offered a friendly narrative.
Throughout his trip Reynolds finds a sympathetic attitude toward Native Americans and a recognition of how horrendously they were treated. That prompts him to ask why the same sympathetic attitude has not been extended to African-Americans. The best answer he gets is that it’s about numbers. Relatively speaking, Native Americans are few and out of sight.
Between the historical tales and the stories told by guys on the next bar stool, the glimpse of small town America and the natural scenery, this is a pretty interesting book.
Reynolds gets a first look at what he was going to be seeing at a motel breakfast café in Melita, Manitoba, one of the last stops before the U.S border. He enters from a parking lot filled with SUVs and pickups into a dining room with about 25 people, 16 wearing baseball caps.
He drives through towns like Oberlin, Kan., which “seems like the middle-class suburban American town that we British see in films – the place where, early in the morning, newspapers, thrown by paperboys riding bikes, thud onto porches.” And towns like Paducah, Texas, which makes him feel like he is “looking at the remains of a small town America that thrived 50 years ago.” He even catches a couple of small town rodeos where he secretly cheers for the calves who escape before they get roped.
As an inquisitive Englishman he gets away with asking questions that might draw some sideways glances if I were to ask. Questions like “Is it okay to call them Indians?” or “Do cowboys still exist?” This is very much a story of the friendly people he meets along the way, most of whom happen to be sitting on the nearest bar stool. Guys like Dallas in Mobridge, S.D., who advises “We’re different from the people on the coasts, and we’re proud of that.”
There’s also a lot of history on Route 83 and Reynolds relays tales of historical figures like Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea, Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill. One of my favorites stories is about Sitting Bull. The Sioux chief was invited to speak in Bismarck, S.D., in 1883 on the occasion of the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Speaking in Sioux he commented “I hate all white people. You are thieves and liars.” Of course his white audience hadn’t a clue what he was saying and the interpreter instead offered a friendly narrative.
Throughout his trip Reynolds finds a sympathetic attitude toward Native Americans and a recognition of how horrendously they were treated. That prompts him to ask why the same sympathetic attitude has not been extended to African-Americans. The best answer he gets is that it’s about numbers. Relatively speaking, Native Americans are few and out of sight.
Between the historical tales and the stories told by guys on the next bar stool, the glimpse of small town America and the natural scenery, this is a pretty interesting book.
August 13, 2016
I'm never sure if it's good to read about someone else living your dream, but alot of books have this element. Ever since hitching across America as a student a little bit of me has wanted to drive across America. Reynolds paints the picture well of a land mass joined by straight line borders that segments this continent into a mad collage. He drives the full length from Canada down to near Mexico and reports his findings without grandiose indulgence but with soft poetic objectivity. A good escapist read that inevitably had me sifting through the atlas, surfing car hire sites and the odd motel.
March 7, 2015
My favourite kind of travel writing--the slow road trip. This book is reminiscent of William Least Heat Moon's "Blue Highways" (which the author quotes here and there) but with the addition of David Reynolds' own personality: laid back, English, self-deprecating, and drily humorous. To travel with him is to explore central North America through his eyes, and to learn from every turn of a corner. And he even provides a list of the CDs he played while driving Highway 83 from Manitoba to Texas!
April 19, 2017
I didn't find this at all engaging. Leaden to the point of embarrassment or parody, but without the fun that parody might suggest. I would be surprised if this led to an upsurge in tourism on the slow road in question (it can't be as slow as this makes it feel).
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews