Gordon E. Slethaug is Professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He is the former Head of the English Department and former Associate Dean of Graduate Programs in Arts at Waterloo, as well as the former Director of American Studies at the University of Hong Kong. His published books include: International Teaching and Learning at Universities (2015); Adaptation Theory & Criticism: Postmodern Literature and Cinema in the USA (2014); Hit the Road, Jack: Essays on the Culture of the American Road (2012); Beautiful Chaos: Chaos Theory and Metachaotics in Recent American Fiction; and The Play of the Double in Postmodern American Fiction (2000).

Gordon Slethaug has assembled a band of traveling companions for a musical road trip that spans time, place, and genre. This is a sparkling collection of essays that casts a critical yet appreciative eye on American road music and its power to mobilize and mythologize.

• 1. Introduction (Gordon E. Slethaug, University of Waterloo, Canada)2. The Semiotics of the Road (Gordon E. Slethaug, University of Waterloo, Canada)3. Easy Riders and Hard Roads in the Early Recorded Blues (Steve Knepper, Erksine College, USA and Jim Tuten, Juanita College, USA)4. Easy Street on Mud Tires: the “Heartland” and the Frontier of the Road in Country Music (Virginia Shay, University of Waterloo, Canada)5. The Tour Bus and the Road (Anaia Shaw, Independent Scholar)6. Band on the Ruins: Meditations on Music and Motion (Warren Leming, Cold Chicago Productions, USA)7. “All That Road Going”: Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks, and The Beach Boys' Smile (Dale Carter, University of Aarhus, Denmark)8. “Happiness Is the Road”: Bob Dylan (Susan Kuyper, Independent Scholar)9. “Apology and Forgiveness Got No Place Here at All”: On the Road to Washington D.C. with Bruce Springsteen Chad Wriglesworth (Chad Wrigglesworth, St. Jerome's University, Canada)10. “But People Are Strangers”: Lyric Narratives and Ethics on Paul Simon's Roads by (Alex Hollenberg, Sheridan College, Canada)11. Gender Is Over: Transgender Narrative Homecomings, Punk Music, and the Road (Evelyn Deshane, University of Waterloo, Canada)12. Knowing the Score: Road Movie Soundtracks and Cinematic Verities (Kurt Jacobsen, University of Chicago, USA)Conclusion: “The Miracle of Serendipity”Works Cited Index