"This inspiring guide includes places everyone means to go to some day, all described with the usual clarity of the author of On Writing Well."—The New York Times

"A fascinating take on ‘the search for memory’ and how certain places have come to symbolize deep American principles."—Kirkus Reviews

Join William Zinsser as he visits sixteen of our nation's most treasured historic sites—unlearning cliched assumptions and rediscovering fundamental truths about America. American Places—and the ideals that Zinsser discovers these places represent—will never go out of fashion.

"Speaking across the centuries with stone and symbol, narrative and myth, America's iconic places remind us of our anchoring principles and best intentions. 'This is where we started and what we believed and who we hoped to become,' these places say. At least that's what they said to me."

"Niagara Falls existed only in the attic of my mind where collective memory is stored: scraps of songs about honeymooning couples, vistas by painters who tried to get the plummeting waters to hold still, film clips of Marilyn Monroe running for her life in Niagara, odds and ends of lore about stuntmen who died going over the falls, and always, somewhere among the scraps, a boat called Maid of the Mist, which took tourists…where? Behind the falls? Under the falls? Death hovered at the edge of the images in my attic, or at least danger. But I had never thought of going to see the place itself. That was for other people. Now I wanted to be one of those other people."—from American Places

"American Places paints vivid word pictures that put you in those places and make you feel that you've been there, but it also encourages each of us to take our own trek through history."—Riverside Press-Enterprise

"Zinsser's choices and descriptions are refreshing because of the obvious thought that went into the selections. It's also fun to read Zinsser's observations."—Chicago Tribune