The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road

Maybe you saw that recent map that showed that the most common job in 29 of the 50 states is truck driver, but when was the last time you read a book by one? Finn Murphy is an anomaly: the black sheep of a bookish family who, drawn by the quick money, hard work, and rough camaraderie, dropped out of college to drive trucks and kept at it for most of the next forty years. He developed a specialty—long-distance executive moves—that has given him a unique window into America from top to bottom, and his memoir is both thoroughly entertaining and as sharp an analysis of our class system as you'll find. It's hilarious, smart, insightful, brash, and sweet: pour yourself a "Dr. Cola" (Murphy's road beverage of choice) and enjoy. It's easily one of my favorite books of the year.