John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley

I don't read many non-fiction books a year, but I do really like Steinbeck, and so when this one crossed my radar, I took a chance on it.  That man had a wonderful way with words, and I was pleased to travel across the USA with him, on a trip when he got itchy feet and wanted to take that journey, and have a look at America, and acquaint himself with some fellow-Americans.  What he found, back in the 1960s, forms the basis for this short (just over 200 pages) and very readable book.

He had a early form of recreational vehicle made, a sort of caravan (trailer) on a flat-back truck which he christened Rocinante (with a nod to Don Quixote) and off he went.  His descriptions of the geography he passed through, and the folk he met, made this first an entertaining read, second, a book with a few home truths, and third, a book which was excellent for reading aloud - which I did whilst Mr Mac did the driving.

From the East Coast across to the West, including his hometown Salinas, California, and then down to Texas and then the  deep South.  He and Charley mostly slept in Rocinante, stopping every few days at a motel or hotel so that a bath could be had.  His laundry was done on board, a miracle of DIY is described..... and a bottle whiskey always available in case he met someone who he could be neighbourly to - and he often did.  He found out things about himself.  He found out things about fellow Americans, and he made me think, hard!  How towns grow and sprawl, how highways get ever busier, how little town high streets die and why.  He could be describing the UK right now, even though his journey was 60 years ago.  And I had to keep reminding myself that it was 60 years ago and not last week.  Some sad stuff, some funny stuff, and some bad stuff too (I remember that first little black girl attending a white school,  and remember Norman Rockwell's painting at the time).  Do find a copy, and enjoy the journey with John, as I did.