lunabruggemann

Colby Buzzell is feeling overwhelmed. He's just lost his mother to cancer and become a father for the first time. In a moment of insight brought on by repeated readings of ON THE ROAD, he decides he needs to get away from everything(yes, despite the fact that he's a new father). He feels the need to find himself again by traveling America's byways and backways. He does just that, going from San Francisco's Tenderloin district to Denver to the frightening goal posts thrown at him by Des Moines, Iowa(where they have four boxes of people "banned" from the city; Buzzell isn't even allowed to check into the hotel until they make sure he isn't banned!), to the lonely existence of Omaha, Nebraska, to the unknown-of-job mecca that is Cheyenne, Wyoming(I'm not joking). Of all the places he visits, I have to say the chapter that amused me and intrigued me the most was Detroit, Michigan. You hear Detroit nowadays, you think of the hit they've taken with the automobile industry collapsing inwards. However, Colby manages to paint Detroit with a golden paintbrush, making you aware just how hard-working and fighting the residents are, taking hit after hit in this economical downturn and still managing to keep a positive attitude and never giving up. He also finds himself completely swept up in the architecture that used to be a part of Detroit's charm, and you find yourself saddened that much of it is gone or on a list to be razed at a later date, most of the time for condos that most residents were loath to afford. Detroit, by far, impressed me(as well as Buzzell, who at one point calls his wife and asks her if they can sell their house and MOVE to Detroit permanently, which is, of course, vetoed.) more than many of the other spots he ended up at in his sojourn. Along with Colby's musings and observations of the towns he goes through, he also looks for-and lands- a job in just about every town, and that's another amusing sidenote- he works at a list of amusing jobs- construction, an ice cream truck vendor(that's a great chapter, hillarious when you think to yourself that you've never considered ice cream truck vendor as a high-risk job, until this chapter.), and his favorite- working at the Salvation Army. All in all, a great little trip through America's Dust Bowl country, and a great little book as well.

2023-07-21 01:32