American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboys, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers, and Bullriders

American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboys, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers, and Bullriders 
by Richard Grant 

Mike Link's review 

Jan 23, 16  ·  edit

really liked it

Read in January, 2016

Richard Grant has a way of ingratiating himself with people on every status level and uses that to great success so that readers can vicariously travel the west in railroad cars, campers, and trucks with people who would scare the S--- out of them if encountered in some wild open place.

Rodeo riders looking to win the big prize so they can squander the money on booze and "Belt Bunnies", Hobos,tramps and other rail riders as well as the organized gangs that prey on these riders, A-campers - the alcoholics and derelicts that camp off the main area of Rainbow Gatherings, but get assistance when they need it. There are senior nomads in their expensive RVs, and historic wanderers like Joseph Walker, the underestimated Mountain Man who may have been the greatest of them all.

From Montana to Arizona there is a culture of Nomadism, but the story starts in Florida and the early Spanish expedition that spawned the wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca.

The wanderings are fascinating, but the conclusions are loose and not particularly enlightening. It is just a good read with great characters - including the author.

Wrestling with the Angel - Edith Rylander

An engaging book of poetry. The images are straight from the heart and the country. Edith has a feeling for the Earth and, in this book, aging. There is human, sadness, and insight. The poet's husband, a retired writer and professor is also a subject for insights and I can see John as she writes - 
The thing is, the old guy in the familiar chair
Harumphing over the news 
Is a couple of inches shorter now.
(The gravities of living
Beat us all down.)

And I can see myself and other men as we shrink over time and still grasp for our place in the world. There are national and local events that invade the peace of their rural landscape and we all benefit from the sharp wit and insights that Edith shares. 

"Onto the pedestal that supports Big Ole.
Twenty-six feet of Viking Warrior, executed
In bright, weather resistant plastic.
Big Ole gazes out watchfully over the quiet streets
Of this modest Midwestern city, 
Spear at the ready."
from the Horsebone Sofa.

Humor invades the day to day choices and frustrations like this portion of the poem - At The END - that describes the endless battle between humans and some of natures relentless players like ants.
Hunkered like regulars leaning on a bar,They circle their drop of golden death, and guzzle
Their bellies full, then take it home to the hill.
They are sociable and industrious. They share
What I have poured from my skull-and-Cross-boned-bottle,
Till all have tasted, Then they come no more.

And of course every poem has layers of meaning beyond the obvious. Discover this poet!

That Summer in Paris by Morley Callaghan

As a follow up to Shakespeare and Company by Sylvia Beach and A Moveable Feast by Hemingway, this completes a set - each perspective a little different, but the players the same - at least the major ones.  Callaghan does not make it into the other two books, but his role and interactions with Scott and Hemingway are fascinating and his insights into the Paris scene add to my overall impression of this creative age.

I am glad to discover Callaghan who is Canadian and therefore does not get as much attention, but it is the subtle personalities and insecurities of the Two Great American Authors that really makes the book valuable.

It is a memoir and as such has most value to those of us curious about these individuals what the muse was that had them revolving around Joyce, Stein, Ford, and other lesser known, but important figures.