Travels with Charley in Search of America - John Steinbeck & Jay Parini

Travels with Charley in Search of America

By John Steinbeck & Jay Parini

  • Release Date: 1962-07-27
  • Genre: Travel Essays & Memoirs
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 316 Ratings

Description

An intimate journey across and in search of America, as told by one of its most beloved writers, in a deluxe centennial edition

In September 1960, John Steinbeck embarked on a journey across America. He felt that he might have lost touch with the country, with its speech, the smell of its grass and trees, its color and quality of light, the pulse of its people. To reassure himself, he set out on a voyage of rediscovery of the American identity, accompanied by a distinguished French poodle named Charley; and riding in a three-quarter-ton pickup truck named Rocinante.
 
His course took him through almost forty states: northward from Long Island to Maine; through the Midwest to Chicago; onward by way of Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana (with which he fell in love), and Idaho to Seattle, south to San Francisco and his birthplace, Salinas; eastward through the Mojave, New Mexico, Arizona, to the vast hospitality of Texas, to New Orleans and a shocking drama of desegregation; finally, on the last leg, through Alabama, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey to New York.
 
Travels with Charley in Search of America is an intimate look at one of America's most beloved writers in the later years of his life—a self-portrait of a man who never wrote an explicit autobiography. Written during a time of upheaval and racial tension in the South—which Steinbeck witnessed firsthand—Travels with Charley is a stunning evocation of America on the eve of a tumultuous decade. This Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition also features French flaps and deckle-edged paper.

For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Reviews

  • Travels with Charley: in Search of America

    5
    By Dee McG.
    This book is a true classic. I began reading the book because I know my Dad has read it, and I wanted a common ground for discussion. This is the book that should be assigned for a high school class with essays regarding the changing times and comparing customs across the country. The presence of Charley makes the story even more enjoyable. It has been a long time since I have read John Steinbeck, but his writing style is far better than that of more modern novelists. It is obvious that this is literature.
  • Made me thoughtful

    4
    By Toni FGMAMTC
    I picked up this book because I needed a road trip book to fill a participation requirement in a book challenge. I'm so glad that I did. The author took time off from everything to drive across the country with his dog. He met all different types of people and had good and bad experiences. Politics and beliefs came up often and varied person to person. Elections, war and racial desecration are just a little of what was on the minds of many. He's pretty good at giving mostly unbiased opinions of his interactions. He describes many popular geographical spots also. I felt that I received a pretty accurate and interesting look at the U.S. of the past.
  • A Road Trip With a Master

    4
    By Dwardeng
    Steinbeck sets out to rediscover America in 1960 with his faithful dog and pickup. Brutal honesty was always his forte and it's all on display here. I would really have liked to have had a beer with the man, but I was only 4 at the time!
  • Pure Steinbeck

    5
    By Anthony Eric Reese
    If you love John Steinbeck's voice—satiric, witty, ironic, and revealing—in his novels, you will undoubtedly recognize it here in all its glory. Such a wonderfully introspective tale of one man's journey across America.
  • A Fun Must Read!

    5
    By Wapella
    The download on my Ipad 2 was smooth and easy. The book was so much fun that I felt I was actually with Steinbeck and Charley on their adventure, and I wished the trip would never end.
  • complete download

    5
    By vonrock
    547 pages of fun with john an chuck, Charlie's not only a standard french poodle, He knows the language too.
  • Awesome

    5
    By M.Sokol
    Firstly, I read the other reviews regarding download issues. I had none. My copy is fine, complete and very readable on my iPhone 3GS using the iBooks App. Re: the book. Simply fascinating, engaging and timeless. A must read classic.
  • Error fixed?

    4
    By asamuels34
    I just downloaded this in preparation for teaching it this fall, on ipad2, most updated software- the full text is there and looks true to the original.
  • Can not be read on iTunes with Mac OSX

    1
    By MarkUhrich
    Careful! This can be purchased in iTunes on a Mac but can not be read with iTunes on a Mac. Apparently Apple is not Apple.
  • An overlooked classic

    5
    By mcpucho
    Reminiscent of the investigations taken by Walt Whitman, Mark Twain and the many other writers who witnessed the birth of modern America.