John Steinbeck was diagnosed with heart disease and, knowing that he might not have much time left, he decided at age 60 to reconnect with America. After transforming an ordinary pickup truck (called Rocinante, after Don Quixote's horse) into a traveling home to his precise specifications, Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, started their long journey across the USA and back. This fictionalized memoir was the result.
Readers have been led to believe that Travels with Charley is a personal journal of Steinbeck's travel adventures, and in some respects it is. Researchers have since realized that postcards, timelines, and historical evidence show that the author's descriptions of various encounters could not be entirely truthful. Despite that fact, the memoir is delightful. From Long Island to Maine, across to Chicago, back to his hometown of Salinas California, through Texas and by New Orleans, Steinbeck invites his readers to feast with potato farmers, camp out in seedy motels and by sparkling rivers, and witness the growth of the civil rights movement. It doesn't really matter that his wife was actually along for the ride (and unacknowledged) much of the time or that some of the things that he described could never have happened. It was still a great adventure and it's fun to be able to be along for the ride.
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