A Walk Across America

It is okay, not great, but okay (2009-01-05)
You know, I think I expected something more along the lines of Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways. It pales in comparison. It has its moments but most of the time I found myself getting irritated by the guy. As a "finding yourself" autobiographical piece it will pass but just barely. I give him kudos for being young and for this being his first book.

Seemed to Have Promise... (2008-11-14)
A few things occurred to me while zipping through this novel. One, Peter Jenkins obviously should not be idolized as a legendary outdoorsman. He made countless mistakes that but his life in danger, namely not starting his hike earlier and avoiding the harsh northern winter. However, he really never claimed to be one, as he reminded us numerous times of his suburban background. He also admitted to not being much of writer, which was also true. I would say the redeeming quality of his story was his willingness to explore "our" America. His life could have gone in a completely different direction, especially after his early divorce. I commend him for this, and he has added to my desire for long-distance backpacking.

The final section of the book dealing with his pursuit of his wife was nauseating and hardly belonged. I am bitter that was the ending instead of a successful trip "across" America. The highlight was his time with the black family in Texana. I would recommend reading another travel journal over this one.

A Must Read (2008-05-13)
If you are one of those people who sees everyone by location, race, politics or economic status, this travel through America will let you see the great people of this country as they really are: Americans.

Not What I Expected (2008-01-31)
The author doesn't walk across America. He starts his journey in NY and ends up in Louisiana.

I expected more camping-type outdoorsy adventures and hikes through mountains and valleys (as the title and the book's front cover suggests). Instead I got a four-month stay in a crowded house trailer owned by a black southern family, and his extended stay at the commune with the hippies. The author's brief visit with the mountain man was interesting.

The book leans heavily on other people, their activities and events. Little emotional insight is ever revealed about the author. The man and his dog are seldom alone, beating the path on foot or fending for themselves. The book reads like a teenager's "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" school report.

Younger people might like this book. Older adults may find it boring and lacking in luster and adventure.

OK, let's not be too harsh -- at least it was an easy read (2008-01-05)
To me, Peter Jenkins comes across as a very selfish, self-centered person. At the beginning, he abandoned his young wife for no apparent reason (he does not really explain what happened except by saying things got unbearable between them), in the end, he dragged another girl to walk across the country with him, even though he realized that this would totally disrupt her career. Even his treatment of his dog shows that he is obsessed with himself -- he thought his dog could think like a human (actually, like him) and he used plural to describe what he and his dog think (we remembered, we liked or did not like this place, etc.), which is completely ridiculous, mildly irritating and totally laughable. I guess that what long, lonely walks do to people, and if you get stranded on an island, you may also talk to a volleyball.

Even though he tried to distance himself from the hippies, he really is just another hippie who cares only about himself and his "spiritual journey" rather than the people who care about him. How his whole walk started is still not very clear to me, he said it was because he hated his country and wanted to see it for himself, but from the book I did not get a strong impression of this. Instead, I got the impression that it was just another excuse for him to walk away from responsibility.

But, I guess we shouldn't be too harsh on the author. Despite the somewhat juvenile writing style, irksome overuse of exclamation marks, the absurdity of using plural to describe himself and his dog, the trite story of how he found god in some southern evangelical congregations, and the adolescent and melodramatic love affair at the end, walking and working his way from upper state New York to New Orleans is no small feat, neither is writing a book about it. Overall, it was an easy, mostly enjoyable (though occasionally irritating) read.

The parts about the mountain hermit and when he lived with a black family are the highlights of the book. I also think the author did an adequate, if not excellent, job of recording the conversations of people with different background and origins. The part about "The Farm" (a place where a group of hippie cult people lived) is kind of confusing. Why did he go back and in the process got his dog killed? Why didn't he just walk away?

I also found some of his self-confessed "preconceptions" about southerners are so stereotypical that they do not appear very believable anymore; they sound more like what he made up afterwards to build a contrast between his preconceptions and reality in order to tell the story ("I thought they were just undereducated rednecks, but wait, they are actually nice folks"). More importantly, The religious undertone almost got out of hand at the end and was in danger of ruining the book. Had it happened earlier in the book, it must have made it intolerable. Fortunately that was not the case.

I wavered between giving it a 3 or 4 stars (truthfully I would give it a 3.5 stars), but considering he walked the walk and wrote the book, both are no small feats, I will give it 4 stars.