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I bought this on a whim, half expecting something like Peter Jenkins' A Walk Across America. This is not that sort of book. McIntyre decides to bail out of his journalism job. He writes of a life spent in fear of everything that kept him from doing anything worthwhile. So, in a case of stubborn bravado, he decides to see if he can get from the West Coast to the East Coast with no money. I guess that's one way to confront your worries.... Along the way, the reader is able to see him grow a little. More interestingly, he gets rides with some fascinating characters -- the hooker who isn't afraid to pick up hitch-hikers because she sleeps with men she doesn't know; a mentally unstable woman who lets him stay at her house for a few days for no apparent sane reason; an extended farm/ranch family in South Dakota; a drugged-out pimp and his girlfriend/whore; and on and on. McIntyre's portrayal of America is very different from Jenkins'. Where Jenkins shows us an imperfect country full of hope, McIntyre's eyes see a wasteland of Strip Mall, USA interspersed with miles of undescribed scenery, all populated with mostly mediocre people bumbling along as best as they think they can. Perhaps the difference is that McIntyre is a jaded journalist by trade. Page created 5/26/97. |
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© 1995-2004 by Michael Heggen. All rights reserved, except as noted. |
