The Roadhead Chronicles: PopCulture And Chrome Meet Asphalt and Art by Mike Marino

Roadhead Chronicles: PopCulture And Chrome Meet Asphalt and Artby Anonymous

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01/04/2008: In THE ROADHEAD CHRONICLES, Mike Marino, author and 'roadhead' extraordinaire, takes to the 'road' 'head'-ing us on a blue suede cruise burning rubber through history the way most of us blue collar bourgeois can relate to--from the backseat of a V-8 deuce coupe, an AM rock 'n roll radio station blaring! We're covering ground you wouldn't step foot on during your senior class history lesson, that's for darn sure! How does he do it? As soon as you slide along the leather of that backseat, Mike Marino adjusts his rear view mirror. Before you know it, you're cruising down Post WWII Lane, winding through the sideroads of the 50's and 60's through the pop culture of cars right off Detroit's assembly lines, Harleys, rock 'n roll, car hops, drive-ins, White Castle Burgers, movies that captured the Greaser/Jock friction--'The Wild One,' 'Rebel without a Cause'... Mike Marino hangs a left and we're in the 60's as Comies, pinkos, and socialists hid under our beds, and we crouched under our school desks as protection from nuclear fallout. Who knew that popular monster flicks like 'The Blob' were subliminal rebellion against Kruschev's hammer-and-sickle threat to bury us? We speed by Vietnam--Jane Fonda, psychedelia, 'Easy Rider'... The engine of that magnificent chrome mo-sheen never idles long enough for its passengers to get bored. The Beach Boys harmonize as Mike navigates us onto Route 66, that 2000 mi. two-lane stretch from Chicago to LA known as 'The Mother Road.' He fills us in about westward migration during the Dust Bowl of the 30's immortalized in Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath.' While looking out the window, we learn this defunct artery was the brainchild of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's vison to build a network of interstates to blanket the country. We cruise past diners, motels, and quirky roadside attractions you'd never glimpse by taking major thoroughfares. Never once letting up on the gas pedal, Mike chronicles the rise and demise of amusement parks such Coney Island, speeds by Disney theme parks, national parks, museums. And--the diners-- greasy spoons as well as the legendary select 'Harvey Houses' with their stellar waitresses. Phillips 66 filling stations... barnyard art billboards... Old West bad boys...our travel guide leaves nothing untouched! Like any good driver who takes you for a ride, Mike Marino knows how to hold the reader's interest by fast pacing and a built-in sexiness from start to finish on this road trip. I give you a man's adulation for his Tin Lizzy: 'Lizzie lets her gown flow dreamlike from her shoulders and exposes her treasures for discovery. Her door opens wide and he goes inside, gentle and timid at first, and then grabs her crank and turns her over...she sputters and moans, then smiles and sighs, and her engine burns and roars to life.' THE ROADHEAD CHRONICLES is a comprehensive dumpster of history locked and loaded within a 400 page spread, driven by a guy who knows the best paths in life are those found on the highways, byways, and back roads. Hop in and go along for the ride of your life! I'm glad I did.