I read this book because it was my book club's choice for January. I was not that excited to read it but got into it once I started reading. Quick read, good for vacation, didn't change my life.
The book is a novel, following a middle-class average guy who drives cross-country to his deceased parents' farm to deal with the estate. Oddly, he ends up driving with a spiritual guru who is a friend of his sister's. Prior to the trip, he lives a 'normal' life, with a wife, traditional job, and two appropriately-sullen teenage children. Upon meeting the guru, he begins to see life in a different light, ultimately ending the trip perhaps as a different person. During the trip, he and the guru make several stops along the way that appreciatively portray Americana.
There have been a few "journey" books that I've read as an adult that make we wish I had paid more attention to Huck Finn in high school. My English teacher was trying to get us to see the parallels between the physical journey and the emotional one. This book make me think of that.
Though both the overall theme and several passages were trite for my taste, the book was pleasant to read. There were certain parts that were laugh-out-loud funny which I always appreciate in a book. Finally, I liked finding out in the afterword that it was based on a cross-country drive the author had made sans guru.
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