Traveling with Thirsty:
An American Experience

Narrative Non-Fiction

Summary

In the summer of 2024, a young man in his early thirties sets out to cross the United States in Thirsty, a Jeep that had seen better days, but which becomes both refuge and silent witness. On the road, he encounters the quiet realities of small-town America, and voices often left out of the national conversation in a country fractured by political and cultural divides.

Traveling with Thirsty is more than a travel book—it is an intimate and critical portrait of the United States today, and of the inner transformation that emerges from crossing it.

Market fit

A narrative non-fiction work that blends road-trip memoir with cultural and political reportage, offering an on-the-ground portrait of life in a polarized America. The book speaks to readers interested in understanding the country’s social fractures, cultural myths, and everyday realities beyond the headlines.

Positioned at the intersection of travel writing, cultural criticism, and personal narrative, the book will appeal to U.S. publishers seeking smart non-fiction that examines America from an informed European outsider’s perspective.

Target readers

Fans of narrative non-fiction, travel writing, long-form journalism, and cultural criticism, as well as readers interested in contemporary American society, politics, music, cinema, literature and history.

Voice & Tone

Comparable to contemporary narrative non-fiction that blends travel, politics, and cultural reportage, with echoes of Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and Theroux’s Deep South. The book maintains a distinct voice shaped by an outsider’s perspective and a restrained poetic undertone in certain chapters.

The book adopts a critical yet empathetic tone, avoiding ideological simplification in favor of observation, listening, and nuance.

Jorge Müller (Bilbao, 1992) has spent most of his professional career working in the branding sector, which has allowed him to travel the world creating brands. From a young age, he cultivated a passion for travel, living in places such as the United States, India, and the United Kingdom, and undertaking numerous expeditions as a backpacker, by bicycle, and by van. Although he has been writing travel chronicles and short narratives for over a decade, this is his first full-length work of non-fiction.

Chapters summary

1. Prologue
An opening note that frames the journey and the state of mind with which it begins.

2. Looking for Thirsty
The story of how Thirsty appeared, and the process of buying a second-hand car in the United States.

3. The Coyote
Memories and daydreams from the first days on the road, as the author enters a liminal, almost dreamlike state of becoming a traveler.

4. West Virginia
An introduction to the heart of Appalachia, shaped by the decline of the mining industry and its social consequences.

5. Homeless
An unfinished reflection on the scale and visibility of homelessness across the country.

6. Confinement
Solitary days in West Virginia that quietly prepare the author, mentally and emotionally, for the journey ahead.

7. Sago Mine
Reflections of an amateur anthropologist at a deeply moving, anonymous place charged with hidden history.

8. Mullens
Several days spent in a small town that captures the essence of rural West Virginia.

9. Meet the Houcks
Solitude gives way to hospitality when the author is welcomed by a singular family with deep roots going back to early settlers.

10. Goodbye, Country Roads
Leaving West Virginia, reflecting on the mental traps and expectations of life on the road.

11. Polyphemus
A dreamlike episode in which Donald Trump appears confused and monstrous amid Democratic optimism, reflecting on the midpoint of the presidential race.

12. Bluegrass
Kentucky opens the door to the South, prompting reflections on roots music, small-town rural life, and the legacy of the Southern Renaissance.

13. The Three from Kentucky
Three encounters during a brief stay: a local Black politician, a group of young offenders, and a homeless man.

14. Nashville
Arrival in the country music capital, reconnecting with the Houck family and exploring outlaw country as an outsider’s way of imagining America.

15. Fate
The aftermath of Nashville leads to reflections on chance, experience, and how the best stories emerge when traveling without a plan.

16. The Clinton 12
The story of the first Black students to integrate a Southern high school.

17. Trump Rally
Going undercover at a Trump rally, the author observes and analyzes the MAGA movement from the inside.

Foreign Rights: Marta Carreño | marta@intruso.es | (+34) 690 398 644