Summary
Summary of Abroad at Home
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A traveler turns toward home
Julian Street, a New York journalist who had written about Europe, turns his attention to the United States. With the artist Wallace Morgan, he crosses the country by motor car, gathering observations while Morgan draws the people and places they encounter. Their journey becomes both a road trip and a portrait of a nation.
Street approaches cities, towns and the land between them with humor and curiosity. What matters is not simply where he goes, but his wish to discover what his neighbors are really like.
Key idea 2
Familiar places reward a stranger's eyes
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Key idea 3
The road brings the country closer
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Key idea 4
Cities tell stories about themselves
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Key idea 5
Attention preserves a changing country
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Key idea 6
Curiosity makes home worth exploring
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love travel writing, early twentieth century America, and a light, wry voice. It also suits anyone who enjoys comparing then and now, exploring cities and small towns, and seeing home through a stranger's eyes.
What this book is
Abroad at Home is a travel book about the United States, written by Julian Street and published in 1914. Street was a New York journalist who had written about Europe. Here he turned his eye on his own country. He crossed it by motor car with the artist Wallace Morgan, who drew the pictures that go with the text.
The book is part road trip and part portrait of a nation. Street looks at big cities, small towns and the lands between them. He is curious, quick to joke and willing to be surprised. You get the America of the early motoring age, seen by a man who wants to know what his neighbors are really like. We begin with the idea behind the trip.
In this summary
- 1Look at your own country like a strangerFree
- 2The motor car opens the country
- 3Every city has its own character
- 4A snapshot that still teaches today
Key point 1 of 4
Look at your own country like a stranger
The starting point of the book is simple. Street had written about the sights of Europe, and many Americans of his time assumed that real travel meant crossing the ocean. He asks whether they had looked hard enough at what lay at home. His answer is to go and see it, as a visitor would, with open eyes and a notebook.
That attitude shapes everything that follows. Street does not pretend to be a scholar or an official observer. He is a traveler who notices odd habits, local pride and the way each place describes itself. He is ready to be amused, and he is also ready to be corrected by what he finds.
For a reader today, the lesson still holds. Familiar places hide a great deal when we stop seeing them. Street shows that curiosity does not need a passport. It needs a willingness to ask questions, to listen to strangers and to leave your own assumptions at the door for a while.
That’s 1 of 4 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
What attitude guides Street's exploration of his own country?
Right. “He is ready to be amused, and he is also ready to be corrected by what he finds.”Not quite. “He is ready to be amused, and he is also ready to be corrected by what he finds.”
How does traveling by road shape Street and Morgan's experience?
Right. “Because they move by road, they meet the country at ground level.”Not quite. “Because they move by road, they meet the country at ground level.”
How does Street approach a city's identity?
Right. “His method is to compare what a city believes about itself with what a visitor sees.”Not quite. “His method is to compare what a city believes about itself with what a visitor sees.”
Questions about Abroad at Home
What is Abroad at Home about?
It is a travel book in which Julian Street journeys across the United States by car, describing cities, regions and people with humor. Wallace Morgan's drawings accompany the text, and together they give a picture of America in 1914.
When was Abroad at Home written?
It was published in 1914, in the early years of American automobile travel. It is a true account of a real trip, written in a light, journalistic style rather than as a scholarly survey.
Who is Julian Street?
Julian Street was an American journalist and writer, born in the nineteenth century, who died in 1947. He wrote travel books about France, Japan and the United States, and he was known for his wit.
Who illustrated Abroad at Home?
The artist Wallace Morgan made the illustrations and traveled with Street on the trip. His drawings of streets, people and scenes are an important part of how the book shows its time.
Is Abroad at Home hard to read?
No. The style is conversational and humorous, and the chapters on different places can be read in any order.
