Travels with Charley in Search of America (Unabridged)
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3.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
An intimate journey across America, as told by one of its most beloved writers
To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years.
With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
John Steinbeck’s account of a four-month journey across America is his greatest nonfiction work. In the fall of 1960, at the age of 58, the author—struck with the same wanderlust that fueled great novels like Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath— took off on an open-ended road trip in an overloaded pickup, with his faithful poodle Charley in tow. Steinbeck makes profound observations along the way. While his Depression-era novels showcased the noble goodness of the working class, Steinbeck frequently wonders if that urge to care for each other has disappeared at the dawn of the prosperous 1960s, like when he encounters racist desegregation protesters in Louisiana. But Travels with Charley is also packed with lush descriptions of America’s natural beauty, from the hazy, forested beauty of the Pacific Northwest to the seemingly endless plains of the Midwest. Veteran actor Gary Sinise really captures Steinbeck’s warmth and sly humor, making this a compelling listen.
Customer Reviews
Travels With Charley
Not my favourite Steinbeck novel. His audiobooks are expensive, so didn’t expect the glitch in Chapter 12. Also, found the reader did not suit as Steinbeck’s voice.
Maybe better read than listened to in this case.