Things I Like About America

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY JUN 3, 2002

Over the years, the peripatetic Ballantine has logged countless miles roaming from California to the Midwest to Mexico. In a collection that may make some readers wish they could pack their portable typewriters and head for the nearest Greyhound station, he reflects on his wanderlust in 11 chronicles of odd jobs and odder adventures. But though Ballantine's tales of a life spent answering the call of the road initially seem extremely appealing, they ultimately tend to fall flat. "She's Got Barney Rubble Eyes," the story of his adolescent love affair with a nymphomaniac, kleptomaniac older woman, has its good parts, for example, but Ballantine doesn't let his adult wisdom shine through, and his recounting of his drugs-and-drink days feels like a reach for street cred. When Ballantine avoids indulging his penchant for the gritty, even prurient, his essays are more successful. His pursuit of smalltown America and reasonable employ, as well as his life between the thin walls of motels and boarding houses, are great topics. Ballantine's at his best when describing what it takes to survive, financially and otherwise, as a modern-day nomad. But he provides little sense of context, or of building his narratives to a rewarding conclusion and though the author obviously has the material for an excellent portrait of America, the anticipated insights and wealth of description born of such travel and adventure simply aren't quite here.