Overall I enjoyed reading this book but it was not what I expected. The author sets out on a cross country road trip with his rescue dog in an attempt to live in the moment as he grows older. This book is just a diary of that trip. What is missing is any in depth description of the people they meet or the places they visit. There is also an amazing lack of humor. If he does not enjoy the trip how can he expect the reader to enjoy it? The book is well written and it was easy to read. and I did finish it.

I've read and enjoyed a couple books by Zheutlin about rescue dogs. In this book, he writes about a trip across the U.S. he made with his rescue dog, Albie.

Zheutlin had read John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley and decided when he was in his mid-60s to do the same with Albie. After about a year of planning, he and Albie drive around the U.S.

This book is a diary of sorts of Zheutlin and Albie's journey ... the places they see, the people they meet and the adventures they have. He found that because he had a dog with him people would more easily will talk with him because most are drawn to dogs.

I thought this book was just okay. I think an American would enjoy it more because Zheutlin was describing in detail the various U.S. places he and Albie were exploring and the people and politics there were encountering and I had a hard time relating.

With his 65th birthday looming on the horizon, Peter Zheutlin sets off to ”look for America,” to recreate in reverse, to some extent Steinbeck’s journey with his beloved Charley, bringing along his rescue lab and golden retriever mix, Albie. His travels took him over 9,000 miles, beginning in New England, down through some of the east coast states, across the southern states, with some meandering as he went, to California, across through some of the northern states and back home again. Stopping along the way with his camera ready for photographs at meaningful places to him, the former home of Woodie Guthrie, along with places some of us might recognize – there is a corner of Albie sitting on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, and he is, indeed, such a fine sight to see. And, more than that, Albie was most often what drew people to talk with Zheutlin, to share what they loved either about where they were, or where they were from, to share their personal stories about these places and offer insight into why they might call this place home.

There’s an easy-breezy tone and charm to this that puts you right in the front seat of his car, seeing it all, marveling both at the scenery and the people he encounters, and hearing him confront his own rushing to judgment on (some) people and places he encounters at the same time. He doesn’t linger long in some of these places, and is sometimes (perhaps) quick to judge what he doesn’t care for about some of these places that are stops along the way, a fairly human state. I loved that one of the stops he made was for a brief reunion of the two women behind keeping Albie from being euthanized at their shelter, long enough for him to end up in the clearly loving home he currently has now.

There are also some wonderful photographs in this, my favourites were of Albie in Yosemite and at a spot overlooking the Grand Canyon, but this would be an entertaining and worthwhile read for anyone who’s ever wished they could take a break from their everyday life and ”look for America” even without the photographs.


Pub Date: 03 Sep 2019

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Pegasus Books