SCRIBNER: 18 in America — A Teen Golfer's Cross-Country Quest

Discover a journey beyond the fairways

18 in America follows Dylan Dethier, then a seventeen-year-old with a bold idea: play a round of golf in each of the lower forty-eight states within a single year. SCRIBNER crafts a coming-of-age memoir that uses golf as a lens on modern America—its towns, its roads, and the people who color the landscape. The book isn’t about flawless swings or celebrity courses; it’s about curiosity, independence, and a dream pursued with wit and honesty. The writing invites you to feel the texture of a cross-country trek — from the clang of a municipal tee in a shuttered factory town to the hush of green rolling toward the Pacific.

The journey in sensory detail

• Wind on the tee and the scent of fresh-cut grass after a long drive
• Beer, coffee, and truck-stop breakfast rituals that mark each new start
• Night skies lit by distant towns and the quiet roar of a Subaru’s highway miles
• Textures of bunkhouse showers, motel carpets, and the crack of a club meeting a ball

Beyond the rounds: human connections and personal growth

• Interactions with veterans, autoworkers, farmers, and neighbors who share stories around the game
• Insights into golf as a social bridge that welcomes players from diverse backgrounds
• Lessons in budgeting, risk, and the reality of chasing a big dream with limited time

Across 35,000 miles and countless nights in a dusty Subaru, Dylan faces vanishing privacy, the thrill of a new course each day, and the loneliness that can accompany solo travel. The narrative blends humor with candid self-reflection, painting a portrait of America through its fairways, fair grounds, and roadside stops. Pebble Beach’s emerald glow sits beside a par-3 in the Badlands, a vivid contrast that demonstrates golf’s versatility and the richness of local culture. Along the way, the author discovers that the sport’s appeal may lie less in elitism and more in its capacity to create common ground, even for a sheltered kid from New England looking to belong.

Whether you’re a golf enthusiast, a road-tripping reader, or drawn to memoirs about growth and identity, 18 in America offers a thoughtful, vivid, and engaging perspective on a boy and his game as they travel toward a broader sense of purpose. The book invites you to imagine what a sport can mean in everyday life—and to savor the possibilities rather than assume outcomes.