Storyville, USA

Peterson (coauthor with Jane Goodall of Visions of Caliban: On Chimpanzees and People) embarks on a 20,000-mile road trip asking the question: ""Where did the name of that town come from?"" Accompanied by his 11-year-old son, Bayne, and 14-year-old daughter, Britt, and armed with the AAA Road Atlas, Peterson unearths the stories behind the names of small towns across America. From Start, La. (""Well, we're the first people that started the post office here... why don't we just name it Start?"" said the young daughter of the town's founder), through Nothing, Ariz., to Roads End, Ala., the tales that emerge concern not only town names but also town residents, their ancestors and the landscapes that surround them. Peterson describes how mechanization has changed the lives of tobacco farmers, explains the difference between various Mennonite groups and, on the way to Jerry's Climax Hotel in the Catskills, offers a lengthy treatise on bee-keeping. Musings on welfare and segregation, both overt and hidden, are offered by ordinary people whose lives continue to be shaped by these issues. The author revisits his own rural upbringing in Corning, N.Y., and narrates the evolution of the name of his hometown. Town names are often used as starting points for running jokes, puns (""It seemed to me that Feeding Hills [Mass.] would be a fine place to eat"") and various literary devices. Peterson can get carried away with these contrivances, but more often than not he offers a wonderfully evocative picture of often forgotten towns. (Oct.)