Twelve Black Code Monkeys

The late veteran newsman came out with his Charles Kuralt’s America a while back about his “perfect year” where he visited twelve of his favorite locations for one month each. They are all in America, and vary wildly in terrain, climate, population, and culture. Kuralt jubilantly describes the unique beauty of each and every one of them. This is kind of a condensed travelogue. Well, I should note that I listened to it as an abridgement. Nevertheless, you still see very clearly through his eyes as if you were there yourself.

Kuralt visits New Orleans, Key West, Charleston, Main, Vermont, Montana, and Alaska, amongst many other places. You don’t get the typical tourist views either, but much more of a native’s view, since Kuralt over the years has built friendships with people in these places and they show him a lot of stuff that is off the beaten path. His commentary is always self-deprecating, charming, and informative. We hear about little historical anecdotes, legends, and obvious tall tales, but Kuralt manages to couch even the tall tales as imaginative creations as opposed to demeaning them as ignorant ruralisms.

My only complaint about this book is that it was too short! As I mentioned, I listened to an abridged version through Audible.com, but if you can read the book or find an unabridged audio version, all the better!