On our way into the Smoky Mountain National Park last month, our carful of adventurers stopped at the historic Burke's Book Store in Memphis, Tennessee.
Each of us picked out a book that we wanted to read while camping and hiking over the next 10 days. I grabbed this used paperback copy of Steinbeck's Travel's With Charley.
In the 1960s Steinbeck began to feel that he had lost touch with the life and times of the everyday American. So he bought a custom camper van, whistled for his French poodle Charley, and together they set out on a long circular tour around the continental United States.
He tried to travel inconspicuously (he was already a well known author then). He wanted to dip quietly into a wide range of towns and communities. He skipped from place to place, sometimes lingering only a few days. He observed the world as he discovered it, and sometimes participated in the lives and of people he encountered.
This book is full of fascinating vignettes about individuals and groups of people whom I will never have the chance to meet. John brings them to life as honestly as anyone can. He respectfully mines their stories for golden nuggets of insight into the wonders of being human here and there, then and now.
If you want a great slice of American culture and a good dose of worldly wisdom, check it out.
by theredhype
3 Comments
A few book and trip pics » https://imgur.com/a/vegpLFC
Amazon link to book » https://a.co/d/jbNv0aM
I read this a few years back and really enjoyed it – great recommendation.
This novel has great personal meaning for me. My dad and I were always the readers in my family. This is the first book that he suggested to me as a young adult.
I lost my dad a couple of years ago. I reread the book this past year and it was like a warm hug from my father.