The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road

Hanks’s debut invites readers to accompany her on her solo road trip along Interstate Highway 10 (“the 10” for short) from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, FL. A contributor to Vanity Fair and the New York Times, Hanks eloquently retraces the route she and her mother took when she was a young teen in 1996. Her mother’s family lived in the small Florida town of Palatka, and the two traveled coast to coast to visit Hanks’s grandmother and other family. Hanks’s mother passed away from cancer two decades ago; now, in an attempt to learn more about her troubled mother and perhaps herself as well, the author embarks on a repeat journey. She borrows a minivan from her famous father, Tom, and brings everything she needs to live in the van, camping out when possible. During her monthslong trek across the Southwest and Southeast, she meets a broad swath of Americans; with a journalist’s eye, she offers an engaging account and draws readers into her encounters.