The Long Haul

A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 06 Jun 2017 | Archive Date 31 May 2017

Description

More than thirty years ago, Finn Murphy dropped out of college to become a long-haul trucker. Since then he’s covered more than a million miles packing, loading, and hauling people’s belongings all over America. Known by his trucker handle as U-Turn, he spends his days (and many of his nights) in a 53-foot eighteen-wheeler he calls Cassidy. In The Long Haul, Murphy offers a trucker’s-eye view of America on the move. Going far beyond the myth of the American road trip, he whisks readers down the I-95 Powerlane, across the Florida Everglades, in and out of the truck stops of the Midwest, and through the steep grades of the Rocky Mountains. As he crisscrosses the country, Murphy recounts with wit, candor, and charm the America he has seen change over the decades, from the hollowing-out of small towns to changing tastes in culture and home furnishings. Some 40 million Americans move each year, and very few have any idea what they’re getting into or the kind of person to whom they are relinquishing their worldly goods. The Long Haul is also a behind-the-scenes look at the moving industry, revealing what really happens when we call in “the movers.” Through it all, Murphy tells poignant, funny, and often haunting stories of the people he encounters on the job: a feisty hoarder in New Hampshire; a Virginia homeowner raging when Murphy’s truck accidentally runs down a stand of trees; an ex-banker in Colorado who treats Finn and his crew with undisguised contempt; a widow who needs Murphy to bring her archeologist husband’s remains and relics to a Navajo burial ceremony in New Mexico. These experiences inspire Finn’s memorable reflections on work, class, and the bonds we form with the things we own and the places we live. Brimming with personality and filled with great characters, The Long Haul is a resonant portrait of the enduring appeal of manual labor in the dark underbelly of the American Dream.

More than thirty years ago, Finn Murphy dropped out of college to become a long-haul trucker. Since then he’s covered more than a million miles packing, loading, and hauling people’s belongings all...


A Note From the Publisher

LibraryReads nominations due by 4/20 and IndieNext nominations due by 4/4/17.

LibraryReads nominations due by 4/20 and IndieNext nominations due by 4/4/17.


Advance Praise

The Long Haul is funny and sad and wise, and it shows us the lives of people we depend on.” - Matthew B. Crawford, best-selling author of Shop Class as Soulcraft


The Long Haul comes at a politically relevant moment, with a pleasing balance of humor, wisdom and unvarnished insights into a way of life that makes the American way of life possible.” - Mark Vanhoenacker, best-selling author of Skyfaring

The Long Haul is funny and sad and wise, and it shows us the lives of people we depend on.” - Matthew B. Crawford, best-selling author of Shop Class as Soulcraft


The Long Haul comes at a politically...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780393608717
PRICE $26.95 (USD)

Average rating from 4 members


Readers who liked this book also liked: