Author Patrick Dobson presents his travelogue Seldom Seen, a chronicle of his 10-week walking journey from Kansas City to Helena, Montana.

In May 1995, Dobson left a steady if deadening job to take a trip, letting chance encounters guide him to a deeper sense of himself and his destination. This book charts experiences with seldom-seen people of the small towns, far-flung outposts, and the Great Plains that make up "our America." Against the majestic sweep of the open plains and endless horizon, his story is one of hope and desperation, richness, and simplicity—a portrait of who we are in the heartland.

Patrick Dobson is a freelance writer, former journalist, and working member of Ironworkers Local Union No. 10 in Kansas City, Missouri.