Comments (28)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 28 items
Nov 22, 2023Steve_49 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
My late wife thoroughly enjoyed this book years ago so I finally got around to reading it. It was better than I expected. If you are anticipating a travelogue description of the US you will be disappointed. But if you are open to receiving…
Sep 18, 2023Liber_vermis_VPL rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is a book-length essay on rural America in the early Sixties; and Steinbeck’s thoughts on the environment, consumerism and waste, and the threat of nuclear war. It is curious that someone so discomfited by city traffic and prone to…
Sep 17, 2023
I read it and very much enjoyed thinking about: - Dogs - Manhood - Various U.S. states - Rocinante, coffee, hospitality. The episodes rhyme conceptually—one story leaves open a question answered in the next, and so on. It feels like…
Jul 16, 2023Cljackson99 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Good read if your a Steinbeck fan.
Jun 07, 2023RebelBelle13 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I started this novel with the complete intent to finish it, as I do most works. About a quarter of the way in, I read more about it and discovered that this wasn't an actual account of Steinbeck travelling across the country with his dog-…
Apr 14, 2023arewin rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A short, but interesting book.
Mar 25, 2023Tony_Jeffers rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Over all an interesting travel book; but long-winded and rambling the author keeps taking side trips in his narrative and it gets very tedious. If he had not been a famous Noble Peace Prize winning author no one would have published this…
Dec 16, 2021
TBS Book Club 2022
Feb 16, 2021Twiggzette rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I read most of this book thinking "Why is this considered such a great book? This is just a travelogue". It wasn't until the last quarter of the book, when Steinbeck becomes ever-increasingly self-introspective, that "Travels" really…
Jul 22, 2020ACL_NicholasS rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
An entertaining and insightful slice of Americana. A true tale of a man traveling through rural america with his poodle Charlie including many interviews with ordinary folks in these towns. If you're a fan of other Steinbeck's other…
Aug 11, 2019jquick99 rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
Bummed to find out this is a work of fiction. I had started this book and after reading his escapades in saving his boat during the hurricane, I did some research to find out if the book is fiction/fantasy. It is. Frankly, I didn’t have…
Mar 16, 2019Bookworm1562 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
"Travels with Charlie" gives the reader an inside look at Steinbeck. He's a remarkable man and writer. He had me laughing so many times in this short novel. I was sorry to see it come to an end.
Apr 11, 2018orange_lobster_23 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I re-visited this book with a more appreciative eye after a book club discussion. The book is more a travelling retrospective of two aging companions (Charley and his dog) as well as a retrospective for me , looking back at America …
Sep 16, 2017wyenotgo rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This is a far different Steinbeck from the fellow who wrote "The Grapes of Wrath". Not a travelogue but a nostalgic retrospective on what America meant to him. And in its final pages, a lament when he found himself face-to-face with the…
Jul 02, 2017patcarstensen rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Unlike a lot of travel books, he doesn't write about the end of the trip when he was just finishing driving and no longer enjoying traveling. The writing about the South is so immediate.
Nov 01, 2016Rowswell rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I recently read this book as I was contemplating a cross-country trip, something I have done many times over the past 40 years. I thought I'd read it on the road as I was planning on driving the same route Seattle to Ohio (long story, but…
Jun 03, 2016TSCPL_ChrisB rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Part travelogue and part rant, Travels with Charley is a very conversational piece. It is strengthened by Steinbeck’s wit and insight. No matter what he is talking about, Steinbeck is able to pull his readers in and make them interested.
Jul 25, 2015msemos rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
not great writing but I like it. his description of a school integration in Louisiana was wonderful. I am not sure that he ever found the American spirit, maybe there is none.
May 31, 2015
A must-read for any age.
Apr 16, 2014
left off on page 158 Montana.
Dec 08, 2013lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
What's more American than a road trip? How about a road trip with your dog? Boom. A later Steinbeck book, this is one of his most beloved and least preachy. His novels can be undermined by polemics and clumsy writing, but this is among his…
Jul 25, 2013banjodog rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Read this book years ago and still love it. I hate to think what Steinbeck would think of Seattle now with our traffic and the exchange of our beautiful farm lands with strip malls.
Apr 12, 2013negovdlp rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book, and found it very interesting to read about traveling in the US in the '60s. Having driven the states myself, it was fun to read the differences between doing it now and back in the day! I think I would have liked to…
Apr 12, 2013JCLHopeH rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Get a different glimpse of John Steinbeck as he details his journey to the corners of the United States, experiencing 1960s America first-hand with his French poodle as his constant companion. Steinbeck's wit shines, and his honest…
Apr 24, 2012
I read this during high school or college I think. I've always remembered it as something I really loved, and would want to read again.