I read a positive review of “Reading Colorado: A Literary Road Guide”, by Peter Anderson.

It isn’t for everybody.

But if you love Colorado and have traveled all around Colorado, it is a big, big treat.

Anderson divides the state into bits and pieces, using highways and geography. When he picks a town or area, he uses stories, poems, excerpts from books, to illustrate.

It is a hoot and enlightening. Living in Fort Collins, I raced to see what was used to cover us, and I was disappointed to not find us. But it has LaPorte, Wellington, Poudre Canyon, and other nearby areas. If he had done Fort Collins, it would have been neat to use something from the person that worked for Walt Disney who suggested modeling Main Street in Disneyland after Old Town in Fort Collins.

But this isn’t even a quibble.

I won’t even begin to give you specific examples, except to say it covers everything from horrible massacres and miners strikes, to blizzards and acts of courage and since it is Colorado, immense beauty.

Ok. Just one. Imagine Jack Kerouac on his road to trip to write “On the Road” having a sleepover under a tree at a gas station in Longmont, looking up at the front range with a big smile on his face.

If you love Colorado you love this book.