Author: A.J. Buress

ISBN: 1591290503

The following review was contributed by: Paul Lappen & CLICK TO VIEW Paul Lappen's Reviews

This is the story of Jake Tidwell, your average
fresh-out-of-college type, living near Pittsburgh.
Looking for more from life than the usual 9 to 5 job,
Jake takes off for a year of traveling around America.
He also figures that, as a would-be writer, he should
have some experiences worth writing about.

Jake is one of those who likes his liquor and drugs,
and has something of a gambling problem. After the
obligatory stop in Las Vegas, he ends up in Phoenix to
look up some lady friends from back home, known for
throwing legendary parties. While he spends nights on
their couch, he is forced to get a job. He becomes a
supervisor for a group of mall kiosks that encourage
people to enter a contest for a free weekend at a
hotel in Mexico. Actually, it is little more than a
telemarketing scam. After a few months, Jake again
gets the urge to hit the open road and heads north
toward Portland, Oregon.

Hiking on Mt. Hood, Jake has an epiphany. Sitting down
to read Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Jake has the
realization that Thoreau wrote the book for Jake, at
that moment. If Jake didn't have to get back home for
the marriage of Paul, his best friend, the thought of
staying in Portland was mighty tempting. The
bride-to-bride doesn't like her fiance's friends,
including Jake, but the guys are going to celebrate,
anyway. Driving to pick up a friend in town, to bring
him back to the party, Jake is arrested for DUI. Since
the arraignment isn't for several weeks, Jake gets in
his car and heads for Baltimore.

He gets a job at a local restaurant, and is able to
sleep at a local youth hostel for free, due to a
loophole in their system. After the charges are
dropped back home, Jake heads for Key West. His fellow
employees at a local restaurant are from several
different countries. Almost none of them speak
English, but they all manage to understand each other.
Key West is a place that turns into one big party at
night. The cocaine and alcohol flow like water. Jake
can hold his own as a partier, but staying up all
night, every night, begins to take its toll. Part of
the reason for the journey is to sort out his feelings
toward Jane, his girlfriend, who is willing to wait
for him.

This is much more than just a drunken, drug-filled
chronicle of one person's journey around America. Jake
sees the best and worst in people, in unexpected
places. This story is full of heart and soul and
intelligence. It is well worth reading.