Chasing the Glory: Travels Across America

Parfit ( South Light , etc.) took notes during his 25,000-mile journey across the U.S.and one might question the hazard of his using a lap computer while operating a single-engine plane. Emulating Lindbergh's cross-country travels 60 years ago, and frequently quoting him in this book, the author surveyed at low altitudes a variety of landscapes, criss-crossing the man-made grid of fields and cities, peering into the backyards of people's lives. On the ground he explored by motorcycle, listening to the stories and concerns of chance acquaintances, many of them in small communities. While he waxes poetic, philosophic and sometimes nostalgic before geologic grandeur, mighty man-made works and the beauty of earth, sky and the joys of flying, Parfit is equally eloquent in deploring abuses of the land such as deserts scarred by off-road vehicles, open pit mines, powerlines and air pollution, from which he seeks physical and spiritual escape by climbing above the clouds. (October)