I've walked across America four times (but north to south along the 3 mountain ranges) and not east-to-west like Rickey Gates.
Therefore, I know the effort he had to make.

I like the premise of the book.
Donald Trump had just won the 2016 election.
Gates was disappointed and surprised.
He walked across America partly to understand why Trump won.

I was hoping for a profound book with deep analysis.

Instead, it's a collection of anecdotes and good (but not AMAZING) photos.

I love that he walked through the South, but he hardly photographed or talked about any black people there.
That would have been interesting.
Yes, the white people are also interesting, but it's mostly short snippets - no depth.

I commend Gates for the monumental task of walking across the US.
I wish he had written a better coffee table book about it.

I've always had a fascination with the United States and wanted to visit there since I was young. I dreamed of going on a huge road trip to every single mainland state, so this book really called to me and I had very high hopes.

I was really hoping for some great insight into the small towns along the way and the lives of every day common folk, from different lifestyles and backgrounds. Although this book does show countless encounters with different people, it feels disconnected. On the odd occasion, a small paragraph or two and a photo was all that was needed, but for the most part it really just didn't suffice. For most of them, you are left not knowing who they were and I missed that sense of having a connection with the people I was looking at. The overall tone of the writing was also a little unpleasant and quite egotistical in parts.

I definitely would have appreciated if every photo in the book had a caption, there were too many that didn't and I really didn't like not knowing what I was looking at. I also could have done without the photos of roadkill.

I thought the sketches at the beginning of the book, of the map and intended route were a great addition. I do however think it would have been nice to have some map markers throughout the book itself, to help keep track of where he was on the route.

Cross Country by Rickey Gates is the story of his run across America. I really was looking forward to this as ultra running fascinates me. The pictures are very vivid and clear and would go nicely along with the text so i'm hoping in the final print they are more integrated within the story. I enjoyed how he described the road and his struggle.

I did not enjoy the need to explain his political views or the sex with his girlfriend. None of that was relative to the story and was off-putting. It seems he was angry for most of the story but maybe that is just the writing style. I would have enjoyed it a bit more if more was included about the people he met. Right now they seem one-dimensional. Rickey's descriptions seems like he disliked everyone & wanted to show their bad side,

I appreciate NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the advanced copy. All opinions above are my own.