DUST & DREAMS
Roadmap of the American Soul
A Memoir of the Mother Road — In Her Own Words
A novel as lyrical memoir, Dust & Dreams is told in the voice of Route 66 herself: the Mother Road—goddess, storyteller, and witness to a century of American longing and becoming. As she narrates her life’s story, Mama Road takes her readers on a journey through time and space, riding shotgun with travelers both real and imagined. Each chapter explores a different town or stretch of the highway—all of them her children—revealing histories, heartbreaks, moments of joy, and the breathtaking magnitude of the Great Wide Open.
The book interweaves historical fact, lyrical vignettes, lullabies, and poetic reflections to explore the themes of wanderlust, resilience, land, loss, and the sacredness of motion. What emerges is a soulful portrait of a country in flux—and a road that refuses to be forgotten.
My Substack, If This Road Could Talk is a companion to the book.
I’m proud to announce that both the book, Dust & Dreams: Roadmap of the American Soul, and the Kicks & Splits on 66 campaign have been designated official U.S. Route 66 Centennial projects!
About the author
Crystal Sershen is a writer and editor whose work explores journey as ritual, weaving nature, history, and myth into stories of longing and belonging. Her debut book, Dust & Dreams: Roadmap of the American Soul, was written in celebration of the Route 66 centennial. A novel as lyrical memoir, told in the voice of the Mother Road herself, the book traces a century of American becoming through the travelers, towns, and landscapes that shaped her.
A renaissance woman who’s done everything from forklift driving to party clowning, Crystal began her career as a story editor for Bravo, MTV, and VH1 before transitioning into performance, audiobook narration, and book editing. She holds a BFA and MA from New York University and continues to explore the intersections of collective memory, mythic voice, and the sacredness of motion.
quotes from the book
They call me the Mother Road—not because I birthed the nation, but because I’ve cradled its wanderers.
To journey along me is to travel not only through America, but through time, space, and self.
Folks who rode me felt it—felt that I was different. I didn’t just take them places. I transformed them.
Let me tell you who I’ve been, who I am, and what it means to symbolize a nation’s longing and carry her stories from dust to dreams.