Traveling With Charley

Over 50 years later

NY Times (Steinbeck with his poodle and travel companion Charley)

After returning three books to the New York Public Library that were almost overdue, I hit the stacks in search of some further reading material. First to Grisham. Nah! I’ve read everything here. Likewise for Lee Child. The selection of books at my local library branch is remarkably static. At this point, I’ve read most of what interests me.

But then — there it was: “Travels With Charley” by John Steinbeck. It’s one of those books I should have read in high school when Ms. Klein praised and recommended it in my honors reading class. As a young douchebag, I ignored her advice. There were balls to hit — and catch — and dodge.

Now 50 some years later, I’ve become a big fan of travel books. And just for a moment, I basked in the glow of my long-gone youthful stupidity. Because of that, I now had the chance to read Steinbeck’s classic for the first time! I took out the book and began the reading journey on set as a background actor. TV and movie sets afford a reader much opportunity (we sit around doing nothing for hours at a time). I dug in during one of those fallow periods.

First, a 30-page introduction I probably should have skipped. But I wanted to know more about the author and figured that’s where I’d make the relevant discoveries. Which I did. But at the same time, there was too much material…