NonFiction Book Club
River-Horse
by William Least Heat-Moon
Buy book: $10.65
The acclaimed, bestselling author of "Blue Highways" and "PrairyErth" chronicles his unique journey through America's waterways, from Atlantic to Pacific. Brimming with history, drama, hilarity, and wisdom, "River Horse"--now in paperback--is a "Blue Highways" on water and ranks among the greatest American travelogues.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it a couple years ago and last year gave copies to two readers on my Christmas list. I've enjoyed the author's other books as well, but this was a real armchair voyage - one I would never try myself but it was fascinating to read. As a Midwesterner, I've driven/ridden in a car near many of the sites described in the book but now I imagine what it would be like to see them from the "river" side.

I'm excited to hear what other readers think of this book.

This is the first book I have read by this author. So far it is very good and the trip sounds very eventful. It is a good way to start the new year and in that sense, an excellent pick.

This book reminds me of a canoe trip that I took in my youth, but on a larger scale. We started at the Old Mill Inn in New Jersey, just a lake with a creek and followed it all the way to the Ocean. It really stuck in my mind how fascinating to get so far and that the water is all interconnected. So, I think that I am reading it right that this is what the author plans to do, but across the whole U.S.? Travel stories make me feel like traveling.

I am enjoying the book so far. However, surely I can't be the only one who was chilled by the irony of this particular sentence in the first installment, even though the book was published prior to 9/11:

"From a mile down the bay, Manhattan looked fragile, more glass
and glitter than stone and durability, the most staggering cityscape
on earth, yet still only a grand temporariness before the Empire
State Building one day collapses into the F train tunnel."

I love reading anything about travel. The fact that William Least Heat Moon is the author makes it even better. Now I feel like I have spring fever!

I have had a great time reading this week's installments. I used to be a maritime person of sorts with many hours and adventures of scuba diving, sailing, and surfing as a young adult along the Californian and Hawaiian coasts. I've been a landlubber some 15 years now. Reading "River-Horse" has brought back many fond memories of my own. I may well read the entire book one day.