Shunpiking
®
The adventure chronicle
Off the beaten path...
into the heart of things.
I tell American stories that sing the unsung, with a focus on the inspirational characters that might get left behind or forgotten by the mainstream.
In order to find them, I practice the lost art of Shunpiking — knowing when to “shun” the turnpike and get onto the back roads where the good stories are tucked away. The ones that remind us of our best selves.
America is a patchwork quilt, and stories are its stitching. In a divided age, we need unifying stories more than ever.
At the Blessing of the Bikes in Gautier, MS,
I witnessed black and white biker clubs do
something alarming. They embraced, and
blessed each other, seemingly oblivious to
the fact that they were recklessly exploding
cherished clichés about The South.
Is everything better, and is Mississippi one
giant nexus of harmony? Not yet. But, man
oh man, there sure is a lot more love in the
deep South than you hear about.
And why is that? Because we obsess about
what's broken, to the point that we
sometimes become myopic, ignoring the
love that's also out there... and which is
also part of the truth.
Less Hell, More Angel
Trailer
20K
Alfred A. Knopf
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