Apple Pie figures prominently in On the Road. Numerous recipes can be found online sharing different interpretations of Kerouac’s pie. These recipes are typically accompanied by a brief yet critical take on the book. (See here and here.) More than anything, I was interested in the way these are reinforcing the mythology of an American icon. The tension between this aspect of apple pie and a novel that at one time was considered to be a countercultural textbook is hard to ignore.

Paradise is a piece that involved me following one of these recipes from Arizona to Ohio. Coinciding with a road trip that I took with my wife and daughter, I gathered ingredients while driving through each of the following states: Arizona (Spices), New Mexico (Flour), Texas (Salt), Oklahoma (Sugar), Arkansas (Crisco), Tennessee (Vanilla), Kentucky (Lemon), Ohio (Apples and Eggs). Upon arriving home in Ohio, I made an apple pie for my family.