Road Books

This was the first book I read about the Camino and it remains, more than a decade and 40 similar texts later, still one of the very best such. If one is to read a single straightforward journal account I can think of no better introduction to the subject.

For my recent compilation of pilgrimage quotations ("Ultreia! Onward! Progress of the Pilgrim") I read all 40 or so contemporary English journal accounts available about the various routes. Stanton's is clearly within the first grouping of 8 or so best such books (i.e. largely those written by established authors and/or academics). And Stanton is immensely quotable; indeed, with 20 such abstracted for my review volume Ultreia!, the Road of Stars to Santiago was the single most quoted text of all.

When I bought this book I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd already purchased a couple of pilgrim guides but was hungry for more readable material. This isn't a pilgrim guide but rather a sort of journal of the author's experiences on the Way of St. James.

For anyone interested in the Camino, hiking or just a well written yarn that's hard to put down, I give "Road of Stars to Santiago" two thumbs up!

This is a fascinating book, and will appeal both to those who love travel tales and those on a spiritual quest. No self-described holy man, the author is frank about doubting his faith and his ambivalence in making the pilgrimage. Yet you see throughout the book how the journey emptied then replinished him He draws vivid word pictures about the sights, smells and characters that he encounters. If you have a desire to drop out of the hustle and bustle of life to learn to listen to the great, glorious creation around you and the Creator above, then this book will make your feet itch to begin your personal pilgrimage. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and was enriched by the reading. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This book is powerful in its simplicity. Stanton's journey is mundane, but from the people he meets and the sites he visits, we learn much about life and travel.Books on the pilgrimage are plenty now, but I would recommend this one for the everyday traveler taking the path.

This is a great book and is a very useful guide to the pilgrimage. It is hard to find, and Amazon is doing a great service in trying to provide it for pilgrims. However extracts from the book with very useful information can be found at the Telegraph Online London web site in the TRAVEL section. Look search under Yahoo for Telegraph Online and then Browse the many pages and articles on the pilgrimage found under the travel section. The book is fully reviewed in the newspapers's travel pages, the site has many useful useful facts about the pilgrimage including a FAQ

I really enjoyed reading this book. Once I started I could not put it down! It reads quickly, the characters have depth and the author does a good job of "painting the scenery" of the book in your mind with her descriptive writing style. The story is interesting and has enough mystery to keep you guessing and lunging for the next page. This is a good book for all ages and one that would be ideal to discuss in a family setting.

I look forward to this author's next book and hope it comes soon!

I wonder when you're going to put out another book. I have recommened this to family & friends - This is a great book and hard to put down.

Helaine Krob has managed to breathe fresh air into the coming-of-age novel with this book. While familiar on the surface, the main characters are as complex and thoughtful as actual high-school freshmen, not the usual "Breakfast Club" of jock/geek/princess/misfit stereotypes. Anyone who has been through high school knows what it feels like, but rarely does a book capture that strange and scary time so vividly. These are teenagers who think, act and communicate like teenagers. I didn't realize how rare that was in novels until I came across this one.

The story is a step beyond the usual as well, with its unsolved mystery and the relationships surrounding it. There is always the drama of just being in high school, but this novel recognizes that sometimes problems and relationships are deeper than they appear. Most remarkable to me is how this story and these characters have stayed with me since reading the book. You won't want to put it down, and even when you do, you won't stop thinking about it.

I can't wait for the next novel from Helaine Krob.

A friend recommended this book to me, and I thought I was going to read it casually. That's not what happened. This book grabbed me, and I could not put it down until the end. The Road Rises Up comes with a compelling story, that is rare yet known to us deep inside. It is our own story of growing up as teenagers and coming to terms with life. It is written in a tone that is so enchanting, at times funny; at times squeezing your heart. I was surprised to know that this was this author's first novel. I can't wait for her next book!

What a wonderful book. Not only does it take you back to high school, but it also teaches you lessons about life, friendship, and love. This is an easy read mainly because once you start, you can't put it down. Can't wait to read her next novel!!

The quality of the chapters varies by author, but the material by classicist Carl Ruck alone is worth the price of admission. And yet mainstream classicism, and political philosophy, continue to remain ignorant of these ancient practices or, worse, deliberately distort and misrepresent - so as to delegitimize - arguments such as those found in this work. This book is, quite simply, essential reading for anyone interested in ancient Greece.

If other books are dynamite, this is nuclear. It documents how the Mystai at Eleusis became Epoptes, a standard rite of passage for all the famous Greek minds we seek to understand. Full understanding is not possible without initiation such as is outlined in this volume. Eleusis is at the end of a line of mystical experience that goes back to 5000 BCE. Is is not so much that the Mystery of Eleusis is revealed, as that it points the sacred way how to unravel the mystery of our own existence. The Greeks knew, and if you do as they did, you can. Wasson tells us what the Greeks did.

The authors of `Road to Eleusis' - they include Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, and Gordon Wasson, the white man who in 1957 revealed the continued existence of the pre-Columbian sacred-mushroom rite to the non-Mexican Indian world - argue that a water-soluble alkaloid contained in ergot, a tiny fungus which attacks grains and grasses, was the principal psychoactive ingredient of the `kykeon', the sacred potion drunk before the celebration of the Mysteries of Eleusis by those awaiting initiation. The philological and psycho-pharmacological argument of `Road to Eleusis' is compelling but to get the most from the book, read it in combination with `Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' by Karl Kerenyi, a disciple of Carl Jung, which provides an introduction to the history of Eleusis and contains a psychological study of the Mysteries.

In pre-Classical times, it is likely that almost the entire population of Athens walked the fifteen-mile distance to Eleusis at harvest time every year in order to drink the `kykeon' and experience the sense of the mythic reunion of Persephone, the Daughter, with Demeter, the Mother who taught men how to plant seeds and reap the fruit. The Christ, the draw in the psychological game of chess between the Hellenised Middle East and Israel, speaks distantly but clearly of Eleusis in John 12: 20-24 and Cicero, the Roman philosopher, author and statesman who coined the phrase `bread and circuses' to damn the spectacular politics of his time, was an initiate.

Iktinos, architect of the Parthenon, also designed the Telesterion, the classical-period temple of the Mysteries of which only broken columns survive. However, scattered throughout `Eleusis' by Kerenyi are bits and pieces of the psychological vocabulary of the Mysteries which with the help of ancient Greek and Indo-European comparative etymological dictionaries allow a reconstruction of the mind of the initiate. For example, `tele', from `telos', the full circle, the crown - today, we hear it many times every day in connection with technology; however, at Eleusis `tele' had a sacral meaning.

Eleusis was to religion in Athens what democracy was to Athenian politics: essential.

`Road to Eleusis' and `Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' - read both; and when in Greece, don't miss Eleusis, 20 miles south of Athens on the mainland across the water from the island of Salamis, open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. except Monday when the site is closed.

This is an inspiring collaboration between a passionate amateur scholar and his professional scholar friends. How delightful to read something that isn't dumbed down. The analysis and induction is nicely supplemented by the "Hymn to Demeter." Much for the brain to chew on!

Wasson et al's revelations of the complexity of the myths that surrounded the Eleusian mysteries are fodder for hours upon hours of thought play about the foundations of our culture today.

The authors of `Road to Eleusis' - they include Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, and Gordon Wasson, the white man who in 1957 revealed the continued existence of the pre-Columbian sacred-mushroom rite to the non-Mexican Indian world - argue that a water-soluble alkaloid contained in ergot, a tiny fungus which attacks grains and grasses, was the principal psychoactive ingredient of the `kykeon', the sacred potion drunk before the celebration of the Mysteries of Eleusis by those awaiting initiation. The philological and psycho-pharmacological argument of `Road to Eleusis' is compelling but to get the most from the book, read it in combination with `Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' by Karl Kerenyi, a disciple of Carl Jung, which provides an introduction to the history of Eleusis and contains a psychological study of the Mysteries.

In pre-Classical times, it is likely that almost the entire population of Athens walked the fifteen-mile distance to Eleusis at harvest time every year in order to drink the `kykeon' and experience the sense of the mythic reunion of Persephone, the Daughter, with Demeter, the Mother who taught men how to plant seeds and reap the fruit. The Christ, the draw in the psychological game of chess between the Hellenised Middle East and Israel, speaks distantly but clearly of Eleusis in John 12: 20-24 and Cicero, the Roman philosopher, author and statesman who coined the phrase `bread and circuses' to damn the spectacular politics of his time, was an initiate.

Iktinos, architect of the Parthenon, also designed the Telesterion, the classical-period temple of the Mysteries of which only broken columns survive. However, scattered throughout `Eleusis' by Kerenyi are bits and pieces of the psychological vocabulary of the Mysteries which with the help of ancient Greek and Indo-European comparative etymological dictionaries allow a reconstruction of the mind of the initiate. For example, `tele', from `telos', the full circle, the crown - today, we hear it many times every day in connection with technology; however, at Eleusis `tele' had a sacral meaning.

Eleusis was to religion in Athens what democracy was to Athenian politics: essential.

`Road to Eleusis' and `Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' - read both; and when in Greece, don't miss Eleusis, 20 miles south of Athens on the mainland across the water from the island of Salamis, open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. except Monday when the site is closed.

I've been reading Jim Forest's books for years, and although I've never had the pleasure of actually meeting him, I think of him as a valued and much loved teacher. His latest book, this one on pilgrimage, is a beautiful reflection on what it means to be a homo viator, a pilgrim, a traveler on the way to God.

We typically think of pilgrimage as actual physical movement toward a holy place, and this is perfectly legitimate. But Forest reminds us that pilgrimage is fundamentally an alert attentiveness to God: a quiet listening, a prayerful waiting, a contemplative centering, a grateful bowing. Too much attention on physical holy places can distract us from the spiritual essence of pilgrimage. It risks turning would-be pilgrims into tourists. If God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere, then we are always at the Holy Place we seek. The trick is realizing it.

In discussing pilgrimage, Forest's reflections on "thin places," where the presence of God seems especially palpable, and "dark places," where the absence of God feels so devastating that they can inspire a trek along the dark path of unknowing and unnaming. I was especially moved by his chapter on "The Pilgrimage of Illness." In it, Forest reveals that he's suffering from kidney failure which requires regular dialysis. But in the midst of his illness, he's also discovered a whole new opportunity for traveling to God.

A wonderful book worth reading slowly and meditatively. Thanks, Jim!

I cannot think of a book by Jim Forest that I did not enjoy, leran from and then recommend to others, even making gifts of several of them to freinds and family. I think here, to name just a few of his wonderful biography of Thomas Merton, Living with Wisdom, his books on praying with icons and on the Beatitudes, his book on confession and his new one Silent as a Stone, on St. Mother Maria Skobtsova's resuce of children during the roundup and imprisoning of French Jews during the Occupation in 1942. In many ways, The Road to Emmaus: pilgrimage as a way of life, brings together holy women and men Jim Forest has revered, learned from and written about. But in this lovely and lucid text, he also brings some of the most important of his subjects such as prayer, liturgy, sacred images, holy places. He assembles all these in the framework of that venerable project of seeting out and making the pilgrimage journey. This could be an excellent book to take along on a retreat, to use for spiritual reading during a season such as Advent or Lent, to gather a study group. The images within support Jim Forest's always accessible prose. He has also included his own pilgrimage through sickness towards healing. You will be in for adventure in reading this, just as much as any of Chaucer's pilgrims on the road to canterbury, or for that matter, thousands of others journeying to Compostella, Rome, Jerusalem or other holy places.

This book is one that I plan to add to the short list that I read regularly. I have been looking for material that will help break up the hard soil of my heart so that I can hear the unexpected messages God has for me on the road of life. I mean, whether one is an intentional pilgrim, a traveler, one who makes his or her rounds, or even a person limited by illness, Jim Forest addresses you with stories, words of Saints, and sage advice. He's been these all these persons, and he illustrates how God is there in these situations, speaking. If you're longing for those ears to hear the saving messages you fear you're missing, this book will help.

Jim Forest's latest book is a guide and companion for all of us, stripping away the cynicsm that modern readers may feel when asked to consider their lives as journeys.

The book deals with the physical act of pilgimage, with places of pilgrimage and with pilgrimage as a metaphor for life, but ultimately all forms of pilgrimage are resolved in the unexpected encounter between the downcast disciples and the Risen Christ on the Road to Emmaus. It is this journey that Forest challenges us to use as the pattern of our lives.

Whilst the approach is explicitly Christian and more particularly Orthodox Christian, it is always informed and enriched by Forest's encounters with representatives of other traditions and philosophies, and of course his friendships with Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh. Indeed, it is this warmth and openness to others that makes the book so attractive: whether we agree with one another or not, we all live together. And how many books encompass Tolkien and Dostoevsky, Chartres and the Anne Frank House, the Desert Fathers and the pilgrimage of illness?

A humane, wise book for a fearful time

Jim Forest's book: "The Road to Emmaus" presents a highly readable, lively account of this one, somewhat curious, aspect of spiritual living. In the book, the theme of pilgrimage is highlighted against a number of the places that the author has visited, together with those whom he has met along the way. Jim's characteristic ability to see the `eternal' present in situations which most would discard as simply ephemeral, gives the book a challenging, yet attractive, quality. The author takes us to `thin' places, where the presence of God is almost tangible, but also to `dark' places, where the presence of God seems to be wholly absent. I was particularly interested in the idea, throughout the book, that it is the journey, rather than the destination, which constitutes the pilgrimage itself, making pilgrimage an aspect of living in the moment, rather than (as is more normal) an idea of projecting ourselves into some future achievement. The book is freely laced with Jim's own attractive anecdotal style, and provides a fascinating personal insight into our journey towards the Kingdom of God.

I'm not a reader of "Christian" literature. But Robertson doesn't make faith an anvil to drop in this story, but rather a subtle theme of spirituality that is reasonably present in a small North Carolina town in the mountains.

Robertson is skilled at depicting characters through dialogue, and the members of the board of the town council (referred to by one character as "tribal elders") are all indelibly unique character portraits. The friendly hairdresser, the taciturn farmer, the wishy-washy insurance salesman, the greedy real estate developer ... these and other characters quickly come to show more shades and nuances that transcend the potential for cliche.

When the prospect of a new road divides the town members into warring camps, the question of right and wrong begins to guide everyone's actions. And each character's moral strength is put to the test further when two deaths of Town Council members turn out to be murder. But what to do with a Sheriff who won't investigate, engineers who don't think the road is feasible, doctors and coroners and other pillars of the small society all ending up in opposition to each other?

Robertson uses various rhythmic patterns to shift from character to character, showing the council members at home with their spouses, all simultaneously having their various dinners, or (in a memorable sequence) the thoughts of a congregation all in their own worlds during a sermon.

I was worried when one of the non-Christian characters had the potential to become a town pariah, and while she does undergo a conversion of sorts in her beliefs by the end of the story, her changes are subtle and experience-based, and she does not turn out to be the killer (as she might in a more lurid and simplistic tale).

The question isn't really ultimately who did it, but why, and other questions such as the nature of good and evil, fear of and hope for progress, adaptability and familial warfare across generations, all play a role in this engrossing tale. While cliche's occur (a fire and a flood feature at different points, both telegraphed with unsubtle foreshadowing) it is the simple decency of many of those elders, trying to do their best for their unruly constituents, that makes this story memorable and convincing as a portrait of a Southern town where the unfamiliar is so unusual as to trigger dangerous reactions.

Larger politics and alternate lifestyles don't figure into the story at all, which I suppose is sort of a trope of this genre: the most we get is a shared belief by all characters in the corruption of Raleigh (as the state's governmental center) and of most government officials. But the focus stays on the local plot at hand, for as Chairman Joe repeats in a refrain, "Ain't no trouble like a road."

Reviewed by Lisa Kisner for Reader Views (7/08)

It sounds pretty simple. A road is proposed to connect two remote towns. The road will make the commute between the towns easier and bring together the communities, allowing change and growth. The road provides endless ways to transform their towns and create new business opportunities and a wider customer base. However, not everyone wants change. As the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors prepares to make their final vote on the proposed road, the county is divided into two sides -- those for and those against the road. Neighbors, friends and family members turn on each other as the vote looms ever closer. Questions arise as it comes to light that there are people outside the county intent on building the road for their own purposes. As confrontations escalate the townspeople are faced with another question: Would someone kill for the road?

When you begin reading this book you enter the realm of small town politics. Decisions that appear to be simple take on a whole new meaning when people you know are directly impacted. This book is told from the point of view of the five supervisors. It gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the thoughts and motivations of the people who must decide whether or not to allow the road to be built. In the beginning, the reader may become confused as you rocket from one point of view to another, with only a space between paragraphs announcing the change. However, the reader will soon adapt to this shifting easily as the characters become familiar. The multiple points of view end up enhancing the story rather than detracting from it. The main characters are well-developed and realistic. In the end you feel as if you know them well. It was very interesting to see each of them wrestle what is best for the town and what is best for their own personal interests.

Embedded in the politics of the story is a finely-crafted mystery surrounding the death of a board member. The author, Paul Robertson, throws out multiple red herrings in "Road to Nowhere" that succeed in keeping the reader guessing until the end on the motivation and identity of the killer. Readers of fiction and mystery alike will enjoy this thriller about what happens when big changes are proposed for small towns.

On Jan 2 in North Carolina, the Jefferson County North Carolina Board of Supervisors meets with the new Chair Joe Esterhouse who just replaced the recently deceased Mort Walker. Joe reads a document from Raleigh for the county to apply for a grant and if they succeed in obtaining the money determine whether they want a road to bring the Gold River Highway over a mountain to Wardsville. They vote in the affirmative. However the county residents split in two between supporters and dissenters.

The people of Gold Valley with expensive homes want the highway to cut down on their commute. A developer Charlie Richer wants it done so he begins bribing folks to vote for the highway and Selectman Wade Morris is killed when his car goes off an embankment. Joe thinks some one murdered both men and another selectman was shot so he works behind the scenes trying to uncover who has taken the debate to a lethal level.

From the onset when he makes his proposal Joe knows the locals will be polarized into two camps, but believes the highway is the right thing for the county. However, he never anticipated how violent and ultimately deadly the argument turned as neighbors and families turn on each other and the selectmen. Thus readers obtain a regional drama with a whodunit wrapped inside it.

Harriet Klausner

Paul Robertson has created a great tale. I was caught up after reading the first page of 'Road To Nowhere' and could hardly put it down.

It is a wonderful story of a small town at perhaps it's best and most assuredly at it's worst.

Who would have thought that a simple plan to build a road could destroy a town before the bulldozers even get started! Or even get a man killed?

'Road To Nowhere' is told from the point of view of each of the city board members. We get to see the various sides of the story as it unfolds and it unfolds at a rapid pace.

I am glad to have read this and will be looking up more of Paul Robertson's work.

Road to Nowhere

You know someone is a talented author when he can write a novel about a road and make it a page-turner. Paul Robertson has done just that.

A small county made up of small towns, mere blips on the state map, situated miles from everywhere else suddenly receives the possibility of a chance to connect, change and grow. A road. This opportunity lands in the lap of the county government members and the folks in their jurisdiction soon make their wishes and demands known.

Who is behind the road? Does someone feel strongly enough about it to kill? What is the right decision?

I read this novel with the same sense of wonder I felt watching the interactions of the 12 Angry Men. Road to Nowhere is a fascinating glimpse into the thoughts and triggers and behaviors of people caught up in a cause. It is also a finely crafted novel nothing like his other impressive work, The Heir.

I love basball. I purchased this as an easy read, something to do on a rainy day. After a few pages, I read a few more, and then a few more. I finished on a sunny afternoon. All in all, much better than I expected, and hope to read more from the author.

Not only is the State of Georgia's connection to formation of baseball told, but, how baseball formed us as Americans. Moreover, this book pinpoints how baseball exemplifies and validates our core beliefs as Americans, much more so than football; soccer being so distant from these beliefs centered on individual effort and achievement. It's recollections of a proud father and his son, a focused pitcher. It's a fun trip through the history of the game, its ebbs and flows. For Georgians, it is the story of the city of Norcross and its baseball renaissance. This book is a refreshing critique on the silly PC morays that have taken over our society and how baseball serves as check against these encroachments. Having played 7 years of baseball myself, divided equally between catcher, and third base; I identify and love the book. The author's history channel documentary-like approach to telling baseball's story, and significance, will capture readers who's fingers have not laid across the seems of a Rawlings baseball. I am a life long New York Yankees fan. One word of caution (meant in gest), this author hates the Yankees! The author's favorite team is the Washington Senators. The who? The Twins? Overall, this book is an excellent snap shot of baseball, from our prospective.....Americans.

Many happy memories were evoked by this book for me. Everybody growing up in the 50's and 60's enjoyed baseball and you feel like you are right back there while you read some of the beginning chapters of this story. There are so many layers to this book that you can read it again and again, finding new things to consider each time. Father-son relationships, family values,life in Northern Virginia, the origins of the game...and lots more, all centered around America's original past time.
The only drawback for me was the copious baseball stats peppered throughout the book. I suppose if you are a numbers person though it adds much to the story. Either way this book will get you thinking. Its unexpected ending will leave you smiling too.

This odyssey is as if Mark Twain, Pat Conroy, Thomas Paine, George Will, Helen Hooven Santmyer, PJ O'Rourke and Mike Royko combined forces to write the ultimate history, geography, baseball, child care, coming of age, political and philisophical commentary.It is beautifully descriptive and the conservative and commonsensical punditry dispersed throughout is humorous and thought provoking. The occasional anti-PC rants are not for the feint-hearted, but rather for those whose approach to life is based on love of God, country, family and baseball--but not necessarily in that order.

I thought The Road to the Big's would be an instruction book on how an individual can become part of the baseball life, but it's more of a book about how baseball is a part of everyone's life. Whether we like baseball or not, it's a game we all grew up with and one that is a part of everyone's history. On one level, the author makes hard hitting connections between the popularity of baseball and the philosophical, spiritiual and sociological roots of our country, while on another level soft pitches a delightful story of his own experiences with the game. There's some thing there to hit home with any reader.

Jimmy Dolan was thirty years old when he returned to his Connecticut hometown in search of the driver who killed his father in a hit-and-run accident. There he also finds himself confronted with dark secrets from his own past and is caught up in a web of guilt, betrayal and revenge. The Road To The Island is a complex and enthusiastically recommended novel showcasing a human drama that is superbly crafted and absolutely riveting. Author Tom Hazuka demonstrates a genuine talent capable of evoking strong emotional responses in the mind of his reader. Also highly recommended is Tom Hazuka's novel, In The City Of The Disappeared (1882593316, ...).

A quick read, yet complex, and provocative. It brought to life my memories of living in a small New England town. Hazuka has captured the flavor of what t to have been raised during the glorious fifties, and coming of age during the tumultous years of the Vietnam War. It is the story of Everyman.......on his search for life's answers. Answers which sometime come at a heavy price. It shows that the past is always with us. The choices of our youth often come back to haunt us. In Hazuka's novel, he returns us to his grandparents' farm. He recalls with bittersweet memories how life used to be. Charmingly told, it focused on what makes each of us unique.It ponders death, growth, and personal challenges. New relationships, and change are the bridge which makes us human. I laughed, and I pondered, and I cried. It is a story which is an allegory of our time. It should be a must read for all of those Baby Boomers who are now of middle age. Upon hitting forty, we should be reflecting back upon what our own individual life has meant.....and more importantly, what we can make it mean in the future. It is the struggle to find our true selves in this world. Clearly told, beautifully written, it is a crisp, sharp novel. A real find! Here's hoping that Hazuka comes out with another novel soon.

Tom Hazuka shows his readers that contemporary writing hasn't become a wasteland for words and self-absorbed babbling. As far as unreliable narrators go, Jimmy Dolan is the best. One of my favorite things about the book is that it has a John Irving-esque way of connecting seemingly unrelated events. Dr. Tom Hazuka is an excellent writer. If you don't purchase this book, you are making a terrible mistake. Read review of this book in the Chestnut Hill Local newspaper, November 26, 1998.

Hi Mrs. Perkins. You'll probably never ever read this but it's cool anyway.

This novel was excellent reading. It captivated me as a female reader. To see that a man can be so sensitive and is able to view family dynamics in such a sensitive manner is commendable. The author's work is as well imaginative. The fictional characters' personalities have great depth. The author's introspection into all of the personalities is powerful. It is a must-read novel.

This is a great book. Not a how to at all (better than any how-to book on the subject I have read though, a motivating account of how-did), but a thoughtful collection of reflections about family life, rural off the grid living, poetry, country neighbors and the nearby small rural town's life. A litle 70's and 80's era stemming from back-to-the-land out of the sixties style versus "modern" cob/strawbale, solar, energy efficiency, etc sustainability, but shows how simple it can be, how enjoyable too and really just encourages you to go do it. The refelctions on their local nature and our modern culture are timeless and pertinent. The topics cover city hippies getting helped out building the house, the virtues of an outhouse and no electricity, rural small town economy, stoic resourceful rural neighbors, national politics, wells/water supply, and of course their exciting driveway. A really fabulous book, I highly recommend it.

I hope everyone reads this book. It is charmingly written and a worthwhile read from the recent former poet laureate of Maine. His story motivates us all with its straighforward nature. Thank you, Baron Wormser and book seller.

Wonderfully crafted language. A polished gem. Resonance.
Few books, in recent years, have made me cry.
This one did.

This is the best memoir America has produced since Walden. It is the honest expression of intelligence, simplicity, humility, and wisdom. These qualities upset the small mind which perceives everything in its own terms of egotism. But they are actually the small and individual facets of anyone who reflects the big mind. Mr. Wormser and his wife are polished mirrors and these essays are small gems of true humanity. While some essays may resonate more in this or that reader, every essay is a living child of the author and lives comfortably in the mind of the reader on its own merits. I'll stop before I say too much.

Wormser is a sage, playful, exacting, pure writer, and this book is an absolute treat. The structure is wonderfully unconventional--his thoughts glide from one focused argument or narrative to the next like a bird moving from branch to branch in the woods. Looking forward to reading more prose (and poetry) from this author.

Catherine has the unique ability to transport you with her words.....you feel the story coming alive....and you want nothing more than to go to these places and experience them yourself.

Upon opening the package I had received, my breath was taken away when I discovered the magnificent cover of the Roads Less Traveled: Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth. The glorious Taj Mahal awaited me-but this time with a perspective off the beaten path.
This book offers various in-depth tales from far-off lands around the globe that many of us do not have the chances to visit much less feel a part of. With the Roads Less Traveled, the reader is offered the opportunity to globetrot without a passport-to feel the cold Antarctic winds, the heat of Honduras and to experience an Andean Trek. For those domestic tales, readers may reminisce about stories of their own, but have a new twist on past experiences.
Many kudos to Ms. Watson on this book!!
Hopefully there are future excerpts and essays to come!

Nominated for a prestigious Minnesota Book Award, 2006

"A tourist goes away but a travel writer comes back and tells others about the trip."

For 30 years (1978 to 2004) as travel writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune (where these columns first appeared), Catherine Watson takes us traveling. If traveling to you is only things you see, then you will find this book "too soft." Watson takes us to visit the people and each area's oddities (that's a good thing) or uniqueness.

The chapters are each a column titled and dated so you get a historical reference as well. This is the perfect book if you have only small bursts of reading time.

The cover is of the magnificent Taj Mahal in India. The building is captured in her wonderful descriptions of sites and sounds there. Now I know the history: Taj was the beloved and adored wife of the Shah, and at her untimely death, he had the Taj Mahal built across the river from the palace so he could look at it every day.

With Watson we travel the world to these places and dozens more:

-- Visiting Vietnam and its people in 1996, 20 years after the "American war," as they call it, ended there. She saw abandoned American military trucks now fully engaged in their commerce.

-- Getting a cleansing/cure/healing in Sonora, Mexico.

-- Renting a villa in Acapulco.

-- Crossing into East Germany in 1995 where the second language for most adults is Russian (not the English of West Germans). Here she writes about the spectacular glass-blown Christmas ornaments and the families who've made them for generations.

-- Polar bears in Churchill, Canada, where she gets up close and personal with nature.

In 1996 she even wrote about Minnesota, her and my home state. She was the tour guide for a visiting journalist from Holland to whom Minnesota was America as she had not visited any other city.

Watson has seen and done things I've always wanted to--and things I'd never be brave enough to attempt--and everything in between.

Armchair Interviews says: Travelers (those who go and those who dream of going) will love Roads Less Traveled: Dispatches From the Ends of the Earth. The book is really more about the people who happen to live in destinations admired by tourists.

Roads Less Traveled: Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth is a collection of travel essays by Catherine Watson, the chief travel columnist and photographer of the Minneapolis "Star Tribune" newspaper from 1978 to 2004. Divided into segments that devote a short and sweet 4-10 pages or so to each destination, Roads Less Travels recount highlights of the author's journeys to Spain, India, Mexico City, Vietnam, Australia, Bhutan, Antarctica, Kilimanjaro, and many more exciting and far-off places. A truly eclectic and fun compilation of the sights, sounds, smells, and one-of-a-kind experiences present all around the world.

I love Catherine Watson's stories because she strikes a perfect balance between lyricism and accessibility, and between the personal and universal. There's room for the reader in her sometimes tender, sometimes brave stories of world (and backyard) travel. The pieces, which originally ran the Star Tribune Travel section, are short in length, but long on beauty and insight. If you haven't read Watson's work, try it. It's a satisfying antidote to the overhyped, PR-driven world of travel writing.

good sons who didnot forget their up bring. could read more...

After reading this book I felt proud to be the daughter of one of the authors(Ed Morris) He has always inspired me and directed me in the right way. As you can see in this book that he and my uncles had a hard life and intended to use his life and the situations that came about to nourish his family. The book was one book of many biographies that I have read that you actually felt like you had lived this life. I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone to read. Of course being modest due to the fact that my dad and my uncles wrote it. I am very proud to be a Morris.

It was the first time I had ever been to the hollow in the narrow valley of Aaron's Fork, about 20 miles northeast of Charleston. It was way too cold for a Florida lad, accustomed to warm, sunny Februarys. The frost-painted grass under my feet made a loud crunching sound as we walked back to where the three room plank house and pole barn had sheltered the family. Everything seemed frozen in time, like a movie set from scenes shot before color graced the screens. As a guest of one of the Morris brothers, I felt like I had a front row seat in a replaying of the first part of that movie which ran some six decades ago. While "The Roads That brought Us home" is not a PBS documentary, it easily could be one in the making. Brothers Ed, David and Roger grew up among the poorest of the poor in rural West Virginia, yet each of them would climb well above the poverty line and rise to the top of their chosen professions. Their road began in Aaron's Fork with no well or even an outdoor toilet. Drinking water was provided by a spring that bubbled out of the ground and they "did their business" behind a large rock near a creek. It was years before they got a radio and in the early years received no newspapers or magazines to learn about the "outside" world. But one by one, they left Aaron's Fork and moved into mainstream America, their mixed personalities as mixed as the country growing up with them. Brother David made a career out of drinking from the government trough of Illinois, a quiet, devoted, likeable team player who worked for a time with a man who is probably most famous for being Monica Lewinsky's lover. Brother Roger is a marathon runner who has become an accomplished sophisticate, acting as Director of Public Affairs for DuPont Pharmaceuticals and a food critic (as well as a former wine columnist) for USA Today. Brother Ed became a college English teacher and long-time editor for Billboard magazine. He is probably one of the most honest observers of the follies of the human race, a truly funny vegetarian who attaches himself to common sense in its purest form. He hates everything from religion to sports, to dancing, to small talk, to pierced ears and tattoes. Far from being self-righteous, he is his own worst critic. A fourth brother, Darrell, who was the eldest, died before this book was written, but his life was clearly influenced by the others, as was their late mother, Mary Elizabeth, whose death in 1988 drew the three together again. In "The Roads That Brought Us Home" David, Roger and Ed speak to the reader as if he or she were the fourth person in the room, listening as the grown-up boys trade memories about their separate but overlapping lives. The book is their story, but it's also yours and mine.

This book gives a fantastic blend of humor, heritage and home spun warmth. "Family" becomes increasingly important as we progress in years and "Roads" certainly emphasizes that point in great fashion. If this book was as enjoyable to write as it was to read the authors my feel a great sense of satisfaction.

Rarely does a book capture the seemingly horrors of growing up in such poverty, that one has to go to the bathroom outside. I say "seemingly horrors," because the rest of us might view such poverty as tragic, while the authors of this book didn't even care how poor they were because they were so rich with love. Using their poverty as a catalyst to become successful, as oppossed to whiney, self-pitying psychobabblists, the authors tell, with alarming honesty at times, of their individual triumphs(and failures) from the 1930's-1990's. Edward Morris,age 63, is the former country editor for the National magazine, "Billboard." David Morris,age 59, is retired after spending 34 years with the state of Illinois. The youngest living brother, Roger, age 55, is the director of public affairs for DuPont Pharmaceuticals in Wilmington, Del. He was also a wine columnist for USA Today. While very different in their style of dress, careers and political belief, Edward,David and Roger Morris are held together by the common thread of a loving family. Having drifted apart for many years, the death of the matriarch of the family, Mary Morris, brings these men back together. Delighting in their differences and arguing politics has now become one of their favorite pastimes, but not before you read how each brother travelled different paths to end up on the same road. Delightfully humorous, refreshingly honest and pure, the Morris brothers not only take us with them on their journey dating back to the depression through the mid 90's, but even allow the reader to project his/her own feelings of each decade. This book is a "must read" for anyone who has ever faced what seemed like insurmountable obstacles,only to taste the sweet victory of success. Undoubtably, this book will inspire those who feel like life stacked the deck against them, and will reaffirm the opportuniy for a bright future for anyone who wants it. Just ask the Morris Brothers.

Sharon Cobb, MSNBC contributor