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Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads

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Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads (Paperback)

by Richard Grant (Author)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Abacus; New edition edition (4 Dec 2003)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0349112681
ISBN-13: 978-0349112688
Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12 x 2.4 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 239,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Erudite & street-smart... that rare thing: a travel writer who not only amuses & informs but also reappraises a well trodden landscape with brio & originality' MAIL ON S. 'Fascinating ... [Grant] brings to light a range of darkly romantic wanderers who strayed from the American mainstream while exemplifying the American Dream' OBSERVER '...the freshest travel book on the US in a long time & one of the best short entrees to its history & culture' TLS

Daily Telegraph, Sara Wheeler

‘[An] engaging and finely written book...He is a first-class writer...I enjoyed this book immensely’ --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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	71% buy the item featured on this page: Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads 4.0 out of 5 stars (2) �5.99
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Customer Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Historically Interesting, 3 Feb 2003

By	eagleeye "babelegi" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads (Hardcover)

Richard Grant tries to understand and answer the question "What makes some people adopt a nomadic lifestyle, as oppose to those that choose the security of a fixed abode". The author himself admits to suffering from wanderlust and can therefore relate to those that he uses throughout this book to illustrate the driving force behind always being 'on the road'. From the original Indian tribes (Apache, Comanche etc.) to the first mountain men and up to the current tramps and hobos that travel across America, Grant uses largely historical stories to help you understand why people embraced nomadism.

These historical stories make for very interesting reading. They are not flavoured by the Hollywood view of the American West and really open your eyes to what were significant events and characters in American history. This to me was the strongest part of the book, as I felt that trying to compare the reasons behind the nomadic lifestyle of the Indians in the 17th & 18th century to that of today's wanderers was less successful.

I am not sure by the end of the book that the above question really does get answered but I certainly have a greater appreciation of what was and is involved in living the nomadic life in America. The greatest praise I have for this book is that it has inspired me to read more about the real history of America and that is something few other books have done.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From the East End to the Southwest, 10 Mar 2004

By	takingadayoff "takingadayoff" (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The best parts of American Nomads are the prologue and the final chapter. In between is an uneven collection of historical pieces and contemporary character profiles.

In the prologue, Richard Grant, an Englishman who grew up in London, tells how he traveled as a child and as an adult to sunny spots all over the world. Consequently, when he found himself spending yet another depressing winter in dreary, damp London, he scraped together enough money for a ticket to the U.S. He hooked up with east coast friends and they made a road trip to Los Angeles, but Grant wasn't through with the road yet. He traveled up the California coast, then to New Orleans, and when he ran out of money, he lived in his car in a parking lot at a motel and spent his days by the motel pool, writing letters home.

The recipients of these letters encouraged him to write for publication and he did. When he had enough money, he'd return to the U.S., then home to London when the money ran out, to write some more stories and articles. Then back to America. Finally he was making enough from writing that he didn't have to return to London.

Grant writes of the American Southwest, its history, people he meets, things he sees. A lot of his narrative is gritty, because the desert is like that, as are the people who settle there.

He winds up these travel essays with a chapter on the caravaners who congregate in Quartzsite, Arizona every year. Thousands of mostly retired people in their motor homes and trailers gather in a gigantic ghetto in the middle of nowhere. Grant observes and comments.

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