Riding toward everywhere
(Book)
Vollmann is a relentlessly curious, endlessly sensitive, and unequivocally adventurous examiner of human existence. He has investigated the causes and symptoms of humanity's obsession with violence (Rising Up and Rising Down), taken a personal look into the hearts and minds of the world's poorest inhabitants (Poor People), and now turns his attentions to America itself, to our romanticizing of "freedom" and the ways in which we restrict the very freedoms we profess to admire.
For Riding Toward Everywhere, Vollmann himself takes to the rails. His main accomplice is Steve, a captivating fellow trainhopper who expertly accompanies him through the secretive waters of this particular way of life. Vollmann describes the thrill and terror of lying in a trainyard in the dark, avoiding the flickering flashlights of the railroad bulls; the shockingly, gorgeously wild scenery of the American West as seen from a grainer platform; the complicated considerations involved in trying to hop on and off a moving train. It's a dangerous, thrilling, evocative examination of this underground lifestyle, and it is, without a doubt, one of Vollmann's most hauntingly beautiful narratives.
Questioning anything and everything, subjecting both our national romance and our skepticism about hobo life to his finely tuned, analytical eye and the reality of what he actually sees, Vollmann carries on in the tradition of Huckleberry Finn, providing a moving portrait of this strikingly modern vision of the American dream.
Notes
Vollmann, W. T. (2008). Riding toward everywhere. New York, Ecco.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Vollmann, William T. 2008. Riding Toward Everywhere. New York, Ecco.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Vollmann, William T, Riding Toward Everywhere. New York, Ecco, 2008.
MLA Citation (style guide)Vollmann, William T. Riding Toward Everywhere. New York, Ecco, 2008.
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 06, 2024 08:31:03 PM |
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Last File Modification Time | Apr 06, 2024 08:31:39 PM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Apr 19, 2024 02:10:42 AM |
MARC Record
LEADER | 01440cam 2200409Ia 4500 | ||
---|---|---|---|
001 | ocn156818156 | ||
003 | OCoLC | ||
005 | 20080228094026.0 | ||
008 | 070801s2008 nyuacf b 000 0aeng | ||
010 | |a 2007031551 | ||
020 | |a 9780061256752 (acid-free paper) :|c $26.95 | ||
020 | |a 0061256757 (acid-free paper) :|c $26.95 | ||
040 | |a DLC|c DLC|d YDX|d BTCTA|d BAKER|d YDXCP|d NPL|d JRS | ||
049 | |a JRSA | ||
050 | 0 | 0 | |a PS3572.O395|b Z46 2008 |
082 | 0 | 0 | |a 818/.5403|2 22 |
099 | |a 818.5403 V924 2008 | ||
100 | 1 | |a Vollmann, William T. | |
245 | 1 | 0 | |a Riding toward everywhere /|c William T. Vollmann. |
250 | |a 1st ed. | ||
260 | |a New York :|b Ecco,|c c2008. | ||
300 | |a 206 p., 65 p. of plates :|b ill., ports. ;|c 22 cm. | ||
504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-197). | ||
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Vollmann, William T.|x Travel. |
650 | 0 | |a Railroad travel. | |
650 | 0 | |a Tramps|x Travel. | |
650 | 0 | |a Homeless persons|x Travel. | |
650 | 0 | |a American Dream. | |
650 | 0 | |a Idealism, American. | |
650 | 0 | |a Special collections|x Sacramento Public Library. | |
651 | 0 | |a United States|x Social life and customs. | |
907 | |a .b18631976 | ||
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948 | |a Featured List 05/08 | ||
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