Rock, roll and ride on Highway 61

Highways aren't supposed to be cool. And they certainly aren't supposed to be the setting for the coolest road trip ever. "Ha," says author William McKeen. The book "Highway 61" takes the reader from Canada down to New Orleans on the title highway, traversing the history of American rock and roll along the way. "Highway 61" is a travelogue, a novel and a rock history book all rolled into one smart book. I didn't want to put this book down -- one more page, I kept telling myself. \nMcKeen and his son Graham, an IU student, take their road trip one summer, and as McKeen reminisces toward the end of the book, "I'm not sure I remember life before this trip. I know I had one, but I just don't remember it." \nThey load up their car with a cooler, luggage and a good stock of music and set off. William and Graham are the two main characters, but they aren't the only two. Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton and the highway itself are all looming figures -- they sit in the backseat of the McKeens' War Wagon. \nMcKeen, a journalism professor at the University of Florida, is also a noted rock scholar, but the readers get some of the most interesting facts from Graham's side commentary. Most of us know that rock descended from the blues. "Highway 61," named after both the highway itself and Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited," shows the story of rock, from its beginnings in Southern blues up to the elder McKeen's hero, Bob Dylan. \nThe reader travels with the McKeens through Hibbing, Minn., Dylan's hometown, through Memphis where we meet the indefatigable Silky Sullivan and his beer-drinking goats on the infamous Beale Street, and through a plethora of small Southern towns where the blues were born. We visit the three graves of Robert Johnson, Mark Twain's hometown, and no small number of bars. These two "free spirits" stop at any little attraction that catches their eyes, and the characters we meet along the way make it worth the extra driving. We meet a pregnant bartender in Minnesota, plenty of quirky museum curators, and the members of Itta Bena, Mississippi's Masonic Lodge. \n"Highway 61" also tells the story of a re-connection. William, a divorced father, takes this last chance to take a trip with Graham before he sends his son into adulthood. It's a subtle side of the book, but one worth noting. The stops along the trip are entertaining, but the quiet time inside the War Wagon offer a time for father and son to discuss music, race relations and pop culture. Some of their observations are deep, some are funny. William's amazement at the music popular these days is comical, but it's clear that he made a point of educating Graham in the ways of music. \nThe one complaint I have is the quality of the pictures, so many of the stories lend themselves to good pictures and William mentions taking them, but I wonder where they are and why they weren't printed in better quality. The writing was stellar. It made for good reading, and McKeen has an easy way with words. \nOverall, "Highway 61" is a gem of a book, it tells a laid-back story in a fun, but knowledgeable, voice, and made me laugh. Pick up a copy for summer reading, it's light and fun enough to read leisurely, and you might pick up a little rock history knowledge along the way.