Synopses & Reviews
This fascinating tale of the author's cross-country hitchhiking journey is a captivating look into the pleasures and challenges of the open road. As the miles roll by he meets businessmen, missionaries, conspiracy theorists, and truck drivers from all ages and ethnicities who are eager to open their car doors to a wandering stranger. This memoir uncovers the hidden reality that the United States remains hospitable, quirky, and as ready as ever to offer help to a curious traveler. Demonstrating how hitchhiking can be the ultimate in adventure travel a thrilling exploration of both people and scenery this guide also serves as a hitchhiker's reference, sharing the history behind this communal form of travel while touching on roadside lore and philosophy.
Review
"While [Wald] did find his share of kooks and weirdos, he also found to his surprise a largely untapped reserve of kindness, courtesy, respect, and friendliness. He emerges victorious with this look at a vanishing way of life." Library Journal
Review
"Tedious chronicle of a cross-country hitchhiking trip....The concluding poem is just embarrassing. 'The hitchhiker's most constant, implacable enemy,' writes Wald, 'is simple boredom.' Readers of his book may share the feeling." Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Elijah Wald has published six books, both alone and with various cowriters, including Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues; Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas; and River of Song: A Musical Journey Along the Mississippi.