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ddksouth's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
tintinintibet's review against another edition
5.0
If I were rating for the average reader, a 2. For those who've driven cross-country, add a point. Those who've done so solo, another. Those with naive, cringeworthy juvenile travel journals (or if yours managed more), one more point.
erikbergstrom's review
5.0
Traveling with your dog across the United States and back sounds like a luxury only the super rich would get to enjoy. But John Steinbeck did it! And he has inspired me to, as well.
This may be my favorite travel book I've read so far in my lifetime, and I've read at least 5 in the past year or so! Steinbeck has a great voice for nonfiction. Humorous and curmudgeonly at the same time (at least in his later years). Of course it's a bit dated by now, but that also lends to giving this book a prescient quality, especially his later chapters on racial relationships.
I would read this again, but I would probably skip the entire chapter about Texas! I was also a little disappointed he did my home state of Minnesota dirty by talking about our bad German cuisine. If he could've used Yelp, he might have been able to skip that restaurant! lol
This may be my favorite travel book I've read so far in my lifetime, and I've read at least 5 in the past year or so! Steinbeck has a great voice for nonfiction. Humorous and curmudgeonly at the same time (at least in his later years). Of course it's a bit dated by now, but that also lends to giving this book a prescient quality, especially his later chapters on racial relationships.
I would read this again, but I would probably skip the entire chapter about Texas! I was also a little disappointed he did my home state of Minnesota dirty by talking about our bad German cuisine. If he could've used Yelp, he might have been able to skip that restaurant! lol
slampizzy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
drpeeper's review
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I can see why this would be a classic; it’s also very interesting to see what trends he noticed in the 60s that certainly came to fruition in modern times. It doesn’t feel like he really visited ALL of America and it feels like his perspective was limited, but it makes sense for it to be that way because of his own identity and experiences, and that makes it feel very honest. Definitely cannot fully relate to the complaints about everything being too sanitary, but I can see what he was getting at.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Deportation, Classism, Antisemitism, and Cursing