by the people, for the people: part deux

in addition to commissioning the graphic design posters below, the wpa employed writers to create a series of thematic travel guides. the list of (mostly unattributed) contributors includes literary heavyweights like saul bellow, john cheever, zora neale hurston, studs terkel, ralph ellison, richard wright, and eudora welty. though some of these writers weren't exactly proud to be associated with such prosaic work, their collective efforts paid off. in "travels with charley", john steinbeck wrote that "the complete set comprises the most comprehensive account of the United States ever got together, and nothing since has even approached it.'' w. h. auden called the project ''one of the noblest and most absurd undertakings ever attempted by a state.'' plus, the covers are pretty sweet. check out william yardley's column in the nytimes as he revisits some states and landmarks from the american guide series in an ongoing travel feature.