Travels with Charley in Search of America
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Book Description
John Steinbeck's account of an astonishing journey across America
Product Description
In 1960, when he was almost sixty years old, John Steinbeck set out to rediscover his native land. He felt that he might have lost touch with its sights, sounds and the essence of its people. Accompanied only by his dog, Charley, he travelled across the United States in a pick-up truck. His journey took him through almost forty states, and he saw things that made him proud, angry, sympathetic and elated. All that he saw and experienced is described with remarkable honesty and insight.
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First Sentence
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Predating Bill Bryson by a couple of decades (and saying in a single chapter more than Bryson could in a whole book), John Steinbeck looks for America. The book details the time he spent travelling through his country, alone (save for Charley, his dog) and anonymous, no mean feat for a writer of Steinbeck's stature. This anonymity allows him to settle in more easily with other men and find out what is felt at the heart of Americans of the day. He seeks to identify and analyse traits in the national soul, and succeeds to a large extent, finding basic friendship and goodwill in many cases. He is unafraid to criticise other humans when he wishes to, especially when faced with racial prejudice, and this gives the book a convincing structure. He is also unafraid to criticise his country as a whole, therefore making the book more credible to non-USA readers. The book contains some wonderful descriptive passages of his interactions with Charley, lending a humour not visible in his other writings. It is very easy to read, and contains a number of very evocative descriptions of scenery and people. The reader feels he is meeting the people Steinbeck meets, or seeing his sights through his own eyes. A wonderful piece of travel literature, showing the author's usual talent for identifying with his readership.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is my favourite Steinbeck book. I originally read it 22 years ago whilst living in the USA. Its themes and insights are as pertinent today as they were then,and as Steinbeck saw them in '62, when this book was written.
It's easy to read, beautifully written and full of keen observations. And the relationship between the writer and his dog is an engaging one throughout.This book is often marginalised by his great fiction, but it really is a gem of a book.
My original US edition features uninspired cover art, but this Penguin classic issue is also worth buying soley for the superb cover shot of 'one man and his dog'.
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
“Travels with Charlie” is the delightful narrative by a master story teller of his 1962 journey across America with his pet poodle, Charlie. Feeling a need to become reacquainted with America, Steinbeck purchased a custom made mobile home which he outfitted, by his own admission, to excess, before setting out on his travels. Although warned that his fame and familiarity would prevent him from maintaining his anonymity, Steinbeck was able to meet America at its own level. From sea to sea he was recognized only by friends and relatives. This anonymity permitted him to drift in and out of American society, tasting and testing, interacting and remembering. From New England to California and back to New York, we are admitted to his conversations with taciturn Yankees and French-Canadian migrant agricultural workers. Traveling west, we read of border guards, the representatives of the government bureaucracy, state specific highway designations and Steinbeck’s observations of topography. His roadside visit with an actor and his entertainment by rich friends in Texas provide a sharp contrast in outlooks and behavior of different Americans. During his return to his hometown of Salinas, California, Steinbeck learns the truth that “you can’t go back home again.” Home has changed, his friends have changed, and Steinbeck had changed. It is sad, but true.
Steinbeck dreaded the South but knew that he could not be avoided. Traveling in 1962, Steinbeck saw some of the dramatic events of the Civil Rights movement while he sampled the prevailing racial attitudes of Southerners of the day.
At the start, Steinbeck was looking to become reacquainted with America. I was hoping that the would finish with some wise conclusions gleaned from his experience. He did conclude that Americans were more united as Americans than they were divided as residents of different regions. He is amazed to find the degree to which diverse immigrant groups have amalgamated into a new nationality in less than two centuries. I passed this on to a distant cousin in France with whom I have been discussing themes in American and French history. Beyond this, we are left to draw our own conclusions from the facts reported.
I wonder how many of the people to whom Steinbeck referred have read and recognized themselves in this book. How many of us, who did not meet Steinbeck, see ourselves or our acquaintances reflected in its pages?
This a a hard book to put down, so don’t try. Pick it up, free your mind and enjoy “Travels with Charlie.”
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Beautiful but Embellished
When I was a teenager, I read a lot of John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939), The Moon is Down (1942), Cannery Row (1945), and East of Eden (1952). Read more
Published 1 month ago by Troy Parfitt
Travels with Charley
I got to hear about this book through reading a different book, and it looked an interesting read. I have yet to read it though.
Published 2 months ago by Mrs. J. M. Dalby
USA NO CHANGE
Lovely to read this book again. His observations about the different states of the USA are as pertinent today as they were when first written.
Published 8 months ago by silvadiva
Loved it
Hadn't visited Steinbeck for a while but on a recommendation I picked this up. It's beautifully written, funny and a wonderful read. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Whitechild76
A lean brooding look at America
At twenty five years old I fear my generation is lacking an insightful travelogue such as this. John Steinbeck travels cross country to re-engage with the society that he spent the... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Benjamin Klaber
travels with charley by steinbeck
an excellent book! all should read and enjoy. thank you amazon for all you do! lee d/custer sd
Published 17 months ago by Aleta A. Stender
Looking for the real America
John Steinbeck has always appealed due to hios uncomplicated, stripped down writing. This account details his travels accross America in a camper van with his dog Charlie. Read more
Published 21 months ago by British Gentleman
Some sublime insights.
This man has written before and he is good at it. Not in a showboating way, either, just a few phrases you have to read twice. Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. C. Darley
Travels with Charley
I love `Travels with Charley: In Search of America', maybe that's because I like travelogues or maybe it's because I love Steinbeck's sublime eloquence, but whatever the reason,... Read more
Published on 21 July 2009 by Spider Monkey
"I am happy to report that in the war between reality and romance,...
(4.5 stars) When John Steinbeck obeys a life-long urge to drive from coast to coast in 1960, he little anticipates the variety of the "American experience. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2008 by Mary Whipple
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