Reviewed
by: BigAl
Genre:
Travel Memoir
Approximate
word count: 35-40,000
words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
The
author of two novels and two prior non-fiction works, Caryn Rose is a
Brooklyn-based writer and photographer. You’ll find her writing
about baseball and music in various venues. I especially enjoy her
musings on music and concert reports on her blog, JukeboxGraduate.
Description:
“LET’S
GET LOST...as long as we're back at the office in two weeks.
Not
all who wander... have more than the US-standard two weeks' vacation
in which to do it. Caryn Rose is one of those people, who refused to
let her vacation days get in the way of allowing her to realize her
desire for a good old-fashioned road trip. Armed with an actual map
and a list of always-wanted-to-visit destinations, come with Rose as
she explores Route 66, the National Parks, and other classic
destinations, and searches for a brief sliver of freedom on the road
in the Great Southwest.
Gas, Food, Wifi is a meditation on wanderlust, white-line fever and purple
mountain majesties.”
Appraisal:
From
reading three of Caryn Rose’s previous books I know that I share
one of her obsessions (music) while her other major interest
(baseball), I don’t so much. However, despite two of the three
books I’ve read having travel as a major component (one fictional,
the other not), I didn’t pick up on her interest in
travel, that I also share, until now. Early in Gas,
Food, Wifi and the trip
it chronicles Rose shared this insight, which really struck home with
me:
The
last time I drove this route was over 10 years ago, and I am
straining to find the familiar, the recognizable; for some reason I
need to demonstrate that I know this part of the country, to remind
myself that I am worldly and well-traveled, that I am larger than the
day-to-day views of myself as a small person who goes to an office
every day and does a small thing and then goes home. I am a person
who has seen the world. Being able to say that and have it be true
makes me feel less like a slave to the grind and more like a citizen
of the planet.
When I
read travel memoirs, what I get out of them varies. There is the
vicarious experience or sometimes comparing notes. The vicarious
might be something I’m unlikely to ever experience (a couple travel
memoirs from Japan I recently read), or as a preview for the future
(at least some of the areas Rose traveled are places I’ve never
been, but are on my list for the future, Cadillac Ranch, and the
fabricated, but musically famous corner in Winslow, AZ for two).
Other parts of Rose’s route are places I’ve been. A couple
standouts for me are the Grand Canyon (pretty impressive for a big
ditch) and the remoteness of Boise City in Oklahoma’s panhandle, a
place I’d venture few have been.
But
more important than the itinerary, what makes or breaks a travel
memoir is the personal. What did the traveler learn about himself or
herself, the world, and their place in it? Without this, all you’d
have is a travelogue, which I’d find boring. Gas,
Food, Wifi is chock full
of those, too, ranging from the paragraph I quoted above right up
until the end when Rose summarizes what the trip meant to her and
encourages her readers to “pick somewhere, rent a car, pick up a
map, and start driving.” Her claim is that even without planning
you’ll find things or “things will find you,” and even if that
doesn’t happen, “the drive itself will bring you something.”
From experience, I know she’s right.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No
significant issues.
Rating: ***** Five Stars
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