I was attracted to this book based on the cover. I loved the maps in each section, but I did find some of the sections boring.

sadly this book was not for me, so instead of giving a negative review -which sadly would be the only kind of review i would be able to give- i decided against reviewing this book.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book even if it didn't work out.

Often, the Christian book market is targeted to women, so it’s nice to finally get a faith book in my hands that’s more skewed towards men. We Stood Upon Stars is a manly man’s book, a travelogue and memoir of live battering down the open highway in search of adventure in the remote wilderness of America. A word should be said about that: Roger W. Thompson never gets further than western Texas, and spends much of his time in the Rockies or on the Californian coast (where he’s from). So if you want a complete picture of the byways of America, this ain’t it. However, the book is thrilling, charming and poetic, and should implant in you a bit of a bug to head out on the road yourselves.

There’s a lot that’s packed into this book, even if it has a tendency to repeat itself. There’s the author’s relationship with his grandfather, with whom he would travel California by way of motorcycle. Then there’s the author’s adventures in camping with his wife and two kids, usually revolving around a Volkswagen van that constantly breaks down. Sometimes, the author heads out by himself to a secluded spot to do some fly fishing and meditate on his life. Whatever the case may be, We Stood Upon Stars is a book of reflection and faith — even if the God talk is quite a bit muted.

What I liked the most about this book is that Thompson is aware and cognizant that much of his travels take place on land that belonged to Native Americans that was taken away from them. He seems to acknowledge their Creator in the process. Still, this is mostly a wilderness book full of scary encounters with bears and other natural wildlife, and finding a place as a (white) man in this topographical landscape. It turns out that Thompson, despite his penchant for motorcycles and wilderness parks, isn’t that much of a manly man. He has his vulnerabilities. For instance, he can never quite figure out what’s gone wrong with his van until someone else points it out to him. So Thompson might not be good with his hands, which you’ll either consider to be an asset or a liability — an asset because being open and vulnerable is part of being a man, and a liability because, sometimes, he comes off as being nebbish when the adventure seems to call for someone more grizzled.

To that end, though, We Stood Upon Stars still satisfies because we do encounter those burly men in Thompson’s narratives. Whether it be his own grandfather (his father was an absentee drug addict who died presumably young) to various characters (mostly mechanics and tow truck drivers) that Thompson meets along the way, there’s intense masculinity to be had in the book if you look for it. Whatever your inclination, Thompson’s book is the sort of thing you want to read in the quiet of a peaceful day as much of the action is of a meandering sort. There’s the aforementioned catch and release fly fishing trips to Montana, but there are also sojourns in National Parks where the author and his charges have to scrounge up dinner. The excitement is low key, but the book successfully puts you in touch with nature, if not with your own extended family and friends.

This book came to me on the Kindle, and I will say that if We Stood Upon Stars remotely interests you, to buy it in a physical version. The author’s mother has lovingly created artwork and maps that, even as line drawings, poorly render on tablet devices. The screen simply isn’t big enough to take in the marginal print and the detailed drawings of places the author has visited. Plus, since every chapter — and there’s more than 20 of them at my recollection — is accompanied by these drawings, so they’ll take up a lot of space on your Kindle or Kobo or whatever you use. (Needless to say, a book of this nature is probably best enjoyed flipping through the pages and smelling that new book smell. This book seemingly calls out for it as a bit of musky aftershave.)

Overall, I generally liked We Stood Upon Stars. Amid the touching, poignant tales (Thompson’s grandfather’s death), there’s some real humor — such as a trip to the Ventura beach for a bit of surfing that ends up with a crab dangling off the author’s toe. If you like getting lost and unsure of where you are, the book will satisfy you, too, as, sometimes, the author veers off the normal course and encounters the real rugged beauty of the American west. To that end, some photographs might have been appreciated, as good as Thompson is with words and describing the features of the landscape, but, as the author points outs, photos sometimes do a better justice than the actual place. (I thought of Stonehenge when he said that. Dudes, the place is tiny compared to what pictures and TV shows would have you believe.)

In the end, if you enjoy camping or fishing, or a bit of surf and sun, or even a good motorcycle ride, Thompson deftly navigates these activities with a touch of flamboyance and wit. The words of We Stood Upon Stars are as carefully crafted as the rugged landscape that they describe, and there’s much here to reflect on. This book is the next best thing to taking a sabbatical. If slow and peaceful is your speed, with more than a hint of human anguish at the changing seasons of one person’s life, then We Stood Upon Stars is going to fill you up and satisfy. This is a courageous work of non-fiction that will want you to, and I’ll say it once again, get out the camping gear and go off on your very own adventure — that being the highest compliment (and it’s meant as a high one) that I can give. Read this. You won’t be disappointed.

I am a big fan of outdoor travel books. And WOW. From the very first page of this book. I felt special. Like the hand drawn maps were included just for me. What a nice touch.

I truly am a lover of the documentary type style. And, while this story is an inventive retelling of exploration throughout many well known parks, and some lovely out of the way vistas, I did not expect it to be so funny.

But life is often more complicated than simple. The whole section on the canopy of cottonwoods and the photos in Grandpa's garage, was so beautifully written, it made me cry for about two chapters.

As the author states, this well detailed book, reads like, 'a map of a man's heart'.