In 2020, millions of Americans anticipated the most important presidential election in generations against a backdrop of converging calamities: the worst health crisis in a century, the highest unemployment rate since the Depression, countless small businesses on the brink of demise, historic racial confrontation, cities and forests ablaze, and an autocrat in the Oval Office who only aggravated a nation’s deep divisions. Democracy seemed to hang in the balance. America had reached an inflection point. So acclaimed travel author Brad Herzog decided it was time to take a drive, coast to coast. His goal: Immerse himself in the moment. Chronicle 2020 – not in hindsight, but in real time. DETOUR 2020 takes the reader to Jamestown and Appomattox, Hazard and Dodge City, Metropolis and Roswell, the Little House on the Prairie and the Grand Canyon. Each stop allows examination of an American wrong turn – entrenched and emboldened racism, xenophobia, conspiracism, science denial, uncivil discourse, toxic masculinity, misplaced idolatry, malignant leadership. With wit and insight, Herzog takes us on an expedition into the heart of a nation and its tragic deviations. Sometimes a beautiful drive isn’t pretty.