New Books Network Rolando Pujol, "The Great American Retro Road Trip: A Celebration of Roadside Americana" (Artisan Publishers, 2025)
Jan 29, 2026
Rolando Pujol, author and journalist who chronicles roadside Americana, guides a coast-to-coast retro road trip celebrating vintage signs, quirky giant attractions, and classic fast-food architecture. He tours neon diners, doo-wop motels, drive-ins, and Route 66 oddities. He urges curiosity, exploring secondary roads, and preserving these fading cultural treasures.
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Origin Of A Roadside Obsession
- Rolando Pujol traces his love of roadside Americana to a childhood road trip to South of the Border and later solo road trips in his 20s.
- He began documenting places in newspapers, a Tumblr blog, and Instagram before turning that work into the book.
Build State Maps And Themed Categories
- Maintain research maps and categorize sites before a big project to ensure breadth and coverage.
- Organize places by region and theme to create a usable, inspiring travel guide.
Roadside Sites As Living Archives
- Roadside relics act as living archives that reveal community history, design creativity, and changing commerce.
- Pujol sees visiting and supporting them as a civic act that helps preserve fragile local culture.
