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ROLLING NOWHERE Riding the Rails with America's Hoboes
"I crouched quietly in the patch of tall weeds. Around me fell the shadow of the viaduct that carried a highway over the railroad yards. From the edge of the yards, I squinted as I watched the railroad cars being switched from track to track. Cars and trucks were rolling over the viaduct, but what occupied my attention was the dark, cool corridor underneath it, where I hoped to intercept my train." Winner of American Library Association Award. Anthologized in Bad Trips (Vintage, 1991) and in Eyewitness to the American West (Viking, 1998).
"His
vivid, sensitive account of this dreary, often humorous and always
compelling odyssey explains life beyond the pale of comfort. ROLLING
NOWHERE is a book that stays with you "
"There
is something clear-eyed, unaffected and all of a piece about his
narrative and his character which makes both of them likeable, and
more than that, somehow worthy. One can imagine ROLLING NOWHERE
becoming a minor classic."
"Fascinating
in some ways a searing indictment of the way this country treats
its poor, of how wasteful we are of our resources, both physical
and spiritual also a unique look at a seedier side of life an honest
portrayal of life in the slow lane, where just getting by is an
art in itself."
"An
excellent account the next time you're sitting dead in the roadway
in rush hour traffic, read this book."
"An
excellent, straightforward report."
"ROLLING
NOWHERE is consistently interesting, for our curiosity about tramps
is part of a complicated fantasy concerning what we call freedom."
"Conover's
hard-luck odyssey produced a book which manages to be highly entertaining
while illuminating one of society's dark recesses."
"A
riveting read."
"His
account of the weeks he spent crisscrossing America is a swiftly
unfolding narrative of danger, violence, alienation, and sadness
realistic, perceptive." "ROLLING
NOWHERE succeeds in its ability to bring out this forgotten world
of railyard hoboes. Conover picks up on dozens of fascinating little
insights into these men and their way of life."
"Lively
and informative Conover's vivid, personal style makes this well-written
and well-paced book a worthwhile choice for the general reader highly
recommended."
"A
fascinating account of life in [a] dirty, shadowy, little-known
and seldom-understood world."
"Interesting
it is ... his style in ROLLING NOWHERE reflects wide-eyed wonder
and unquenchable curiosity. On the subject of hoboes today, Ted
Conover is the best we've got."
Review of the audio book: "ROLLING
NOWHERE is so full of fascinating detail it's almost as good as
going along with him … because he's such a good observer and
writer, he gave us a book that probably no other tramp or hobo could
have ... Brilliance Audio has recorded two versions, unabridged
and abridged. Conover reads both. His voice is perfect: warm, quiet,
and thoughtful. The book was first published 20 years ago, and he
seems to enjoy revisiting it and the friends he made back then." from the back cover Hopping a freight in the St. Louis rail yards, Ted Conover embarks on his dream trip, traveling the rails with "the knights of the road." Equipped with rummage store clothing, a bedroll, and his notebooks, Conover immerses himself in the peculiar culture of the hobo, where handshakes and intoductions are foreign, but where everyone knows where the Sally (Salvation Army) and the Willy (Goodwill) are. Along the way he encounters unexpected charity (a former cop goes out of his way to offer Conover a dollar) and indignities (what do you do when there are no public bathrooms?) and learns how to survive on the road. But above all, Conover gets to know the men and women who, for one reason or another, live this life. There's Lonny, who accepts that there are some towns he can't enter before dark because he's black, and Pistol Pete, a cowboy who claims his son is a doctor and his daughter a ballerina, and Sheba Sheila Sheils, who's built herself a house out of old tires. By turns resourceful and desperate, generous and mistrusting, independent and communal, philosophical and profoundly cynical, the tramps Conover meets show him a segment of humanity outside society, neither wholly romantic nor wholly tragic, and very much like the rest of us. |
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