A captivating story from the beginning. You are drawn into the adventure written in enjoyable, easy flowing humorous language, with poetic musical phrasing. Many surprises along the way.
‘streets in Morgan, Nebraska: named for presidents E-W, named for trees N-S. …
following a cowboy, he crossed one of the presidents and headed up a tree.’ p85, p89.
It is the spinning of a great yarn with homespun truths, humour interwoven with life lessons, morals, wisdom and truth.
‘... father ... unable to sleep--not without reason. Because a farmer with a mortgage was like a man walking on the railing of a bridge with his arm outstretched and his eyes closed. ... father ... unable to sleep--not without reason. Because a farmer with a mortgage was like a man walking on the railing of a bridge with his arm outstretched and his eyes closed.’ p13.
Lifelike likeable characters, whose attributes are revealed over time.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: 10/5/2021; 978-0330449601; Viking; 588 pages; unabridged.)
(Digital: Yes.)
*Audio: 10/05/2021; 9780593452103; Duration 16:39:00; unabridged.
(Film: Not that I know of).

SERIES: No

CHARACTERS: (not comprehensive)
Emmett Watson, William (Billy) Watson, Sally Ransom, Daniel (Duchess), Woolly,

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
The only thing Woolly wants is a day that’s not an every-day day. Emmett just wants to put the tragic past behind him and arrive someplace with a large enough population to allow him to start fresh with his vocational plan for making his own way and supporting his young brother. Billy, his young brother, just wants to pursue his plan to re-unite with their mother that left them when he was a baby. Duchess feels compelled to balance some scores and collect the funds his wealthy friend wants to bequeath he and his friends. Sally just wants to provide her gifts of domesticity to appreciative souls.
And, as is the way of all quests, they each encounter set-backs and detours- large and small, as each quest jostles for position among the others.
These characters and many of those they meet along their way are extremely well developed, so I couldn’t help but get attached them, despite, and sometimes because of, their flaws. The book isn’t gushy, or overtly sentimental, but is so beautifully written that I found myself moved to tears more than once, without any real justification for them.

AUTHOR:
Amor Towles (1964). According to Goodreads, “Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. Having worked as an investment professional in Manhattan for over twenty years, he now devotes himself fulltime to writing. His first novel, Rules of Civility, published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback and was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. The book was optioned by Lionsgate to be made into a feature film and its French translation received the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was ranked as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the St. Louis Dispatch, and NPR. Both novels have been translated into over fifteen languages.”

NARRATORS:
Edoardo Ballerini (3/20/1970). According to Wikipedia, Edoardo “is an American actor, narrator, writer, and film director. On screen he is best known for his work as junkie Corky Caporale in The Sopranos and the hotheaded chef in the indie film Dinner Rush (2001). Ballerini is a two-time winner of the Audio Publishers Association's Best Male Narrator Audie Award (2013, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter; 2019 Watchers by Dean Koontz) and the co-author of the Audible Original "The Angel of Rome" (2021), with Jess Walter. His directorial debut, Good Night Valentino, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.[1]”

Marin Yvonne Ireland (August 30, 1979). According to Wikipedia, Marin “is an American actress who is known for her work in theatre and was described by The New York Times as "one of the great drama queens of the New York stage".[2]
In 2009, she won the Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Reasons to Be Pretty. Outside of her stage work, Ireland has frequently worked in film and television; she starred as Julia Bowman in the Amazon Studios series Sneaky Pete (2015–2019), and currently stars as Sissy in The Umbrella Academy (2020–present). She has made appearances in films including Rachel Getting Married, Side Effects, Glass Chin, The Family Fang, Hell or High Water, Piercing, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, The Irishman, and The Empty Man.

Dion Graham (August 8, ????). According to IMDb, Dion “is an actor, known for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Malcolm X (1992) and The Wire (2002).”

Eduardo does an excellent narration here, with perfect distinction between the various characters he reads, and a pitch perfect sense of the character’s personalities. Marin portrays Sally with perfect gusto and characteristic exasperation. Dion’s rendering of Ulysses is deep and rich with his character’s noble Spirit, and they are all audible! —That’s important when you do all of your listening in a variety of vehicles and need to understand what’s being said over vehicle and road noise!

DEDICATION:
“For my brother Stokley and my sister Kimbrough”

GENRE:
Historical fiction

LOCATIONS:
Nebraska, New York

TIME FRAME
1954

SUBJECTS:
Traveling, myths, heroes, relationships, consequences, personalities, road trips, trains, vagabonds, readers.

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter 10—(1st) Emmett-June 12, 1954
“After a moment of silence, Emmett realized that he was staring into his mile. He was the one now with something on his mind. He was the one trying to decide how, or whether, or when to say it.
__Billy, he began, I don’t know what Mr. Ransom’s told you, but we’re not going to be able to live here anymore.
__I know, said Billy. Because we’re foreclosed.
__That’s right. Do you understand what that means?
__It means the Savings and Loan own our house now.
__That’s right. Even though they’re taking the house, we could stay in Morgen. We could live with the Ransoms for a while, I could go back to school, and eventually we could afford to get a place of our own. But I’ve been thinking that this might be a good time for you and me to try something new . . .
Emmett had thought a lot about how he would put this, because he was worried that Billy would be disconcerted by the notion of leaving Morgen, especially so soon after their father’s death. But Billy wasn’t disconcerted at all.
__I was thinking the same thing, Emmett.
__You were?
Billy nodded with a hint of eagerness.
__With Daddy gone and the house foreclosed, there’s no need for us to stay in Morgen. We can pack up our things and drive to California.
__I guess we’re in agreement, said Emmett with a smile. The only difference is that I think we should be moving to Texas.
__Oh, we can’t be moving to Texas, said Billy, shaking his head.
__Why’s that?
__Because we’ve got to be moving to California.
Emmett started to speak, but Billy had already gotten up from his chair and gone to his backpack. This time, he opened the front pocket, removed a small manila envelope, and returned to his seat. As he carefully unwound the red thread that sealed the envelope’s flap, he began to explain.
__After Daddy’s funeral, when you went back to Salina, Mr. Ransom sent Sally and me over to the house to look for important papers. In the bottom drawer of Daddy’s bureau, we found a metal box. It wasn’t locked, but it was the kind of box you *could* lock if you wanted to. Inside it were important papers, just as Mr. Ransom had said there’d be—like our birth certificates and Mom and Dad’s marriage license. But at the bottom of the box, at the very bottom, I found these.
Billy tipped the envelope over the table and out slid nine postcards.
Emmett could tell from the condition of the cards that they weren’t exactly old and weren’t exactly new. Some of them were photographs and some were illustrations, but all were in color. The one on top was a picture of the Welsh Motor Court in Ogallala Nebraska—a modern-looking lodge with white cabanas and roadside plantings and a flagpole flying the American flag.
__They’re postcards, Billy said. To you and me. From Mom.
Emmett was taken aback. Nearly eight years had passed since their mother had tucked the two of them in bed, kissed them goodnight, and walked out the door—and they hadn’t heard a word from her since. No phone calls. No letters. No neatly wrapped packages arriving in time for Christmas. Not even a bit of gossip from someone who’d happened to hear something from somebody else. At least, that’s what Emmett had understood to be the case, until now.

RATING:
5 stars.

STARTED-FINISHED
10/09/2021 – 10/16/2021 ( )

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: 10/5/2021; 978-0330449601; Viking; 588 pages; unabridged.)
(Digital: Yes.)
*Audio: 10/05/2021; 9780593452103; Duration 16:39:00; unabridged.
(Film: Not that I know of).

SERIES: No

CHARACTERS: (not comprehensive)
Emmett Watson, William (Billy) Watson, Sally Ransom, Daniel (Duchess), Woolly,

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
The only thing Woolly wants is a day that’s not an every-day day. Emmett just wants to put the tragic past behind him and arrive someplace with a large enough population to allow him to start fresh with his vocational plan for making his own way and supporting his young brother. Billy, his young brother, just wants to pursue his plan to re-unite with their mother that left them when he was a baby. Duchess feels compelled to balance some scores and collect the funds his wealthy friend wants to bequeath he and his friends. Sally just wants to provide her gifts of domesticity to appreciative souls.
And, as is the way of all quests, they each encounter set-backs and detours- large and small, as each quest jostles for position among the others.
These characters and many of those they meet along their way are extremely well developed, so I couldn’t help but get attached them, despite, and sometimes because of, their flaws. The book isn’t gushy, or overtly sentimental, but is so beautifully written that I found myself moved to tears more than once, without any real justification for them.

AUTHOR:
Amor Towles (1964). According to Goodreads, “Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. Having worked as an investment professional in Manhattan for over twenty years, he now devotes himself fulltime to writing. His first novel, Rules of Civility, published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback and was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. The book was optioned by Lionsgate to be made into a feature film and its French translation received the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was ranked as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the St. Louis Dispatch, and NPR. Both novels have been translated into over fifteen languages.”

NARRATORS:
Edoardo Ballerini (3/20/1970). According to Wikipedia, Edoardo “is an American actor, narrator, writer, and film director. On screen he is best known for his work as junkie Corky Caporale in The Sopranos and the hotheaded chef in the indie film Dinner Rush (2001). Ballerini is a two-time winner of the Audio Publishers Association's Best Male Narrator Audie Award (2013, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter; 2019 Watchers by Dean Koontz) and the co-author of the Audible Original "The Angel of Rome" (2021), with Jess Walter. His directorial debut, Good Night Valentino, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.[1]”

Marin Yvonne Ireland (August 30, 1979). According to Wikipedia, Marin “is an American actress who is known for her work in theatre and was described by The New York Times as "one of the great drama queens of the New York stage".[2]
In 2009, she won the Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Reasons to Be Pretty. Outside of her stage work, Ireland has frequently worked in film and television; she starred as Julia Bowman in the Amazon Studios series Sneaky Pete (2015–2019), and currently stars as Sissy in The Umbrella Academy (2020–present). She has made appearances in films including Rachel Getting Married, Side Effects, Glass Chin, The Family Fang, Hell or High Water, Piercing, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, The Irishman, and The Empty Man.

Dion Graham (August 8, ????). According to IMDb, Dion “is an actor, known for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Malcolm X (1992) and The Wire (2002).”

Eduardo does an excellent narration here, with perfect distinction between the various characters he reads, and a pitch perfect sense of the character’s personalities. Marin portrays Sally with perfect gusto and characteristic exasperation. Dion’s rendering of Ulysses is deep and rich with his character’s noble Spirit, and they are all audible! —That’s important when you do all of your listening in a variety of vehicles and need to understand what’s being said over vehicle and road noise!

DEDICATION:
“For my brother Stokley and my sister Kimbrough”

GENRE:
Historical fiction

LOCATIONS:
Nebraska, New York

TIME FRAME
1954

SUBJECTS:
Traveling, myths, heroes, relationships, consequences, personalities, road trips, trains, vagabonds, readers.

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter 10—(1st) Emmett-June 12, 1954
“After a moment of silence, Emmett realized that he was staring into his mile. He was the one now with something on his mind. He was the one trying to decide how, or whether, or when to say it.
__Billy, he began, I don’t know what Mr. Ransom’s told you, but we’re not going to be able to live here anymore.
__I know, said Billy. Because we’re foreclosed.
__That’s right. Do you understand what that means?
__It means the Savings and Loan own our house now.
__That’s right. Even though they’re taking the house, we could stay in Morgen. We could live with the Ransoms for a while, I could go back to school, and eventually we could afford to get a place of our own. But I’ve been thinking that this might be a good time for you and me to try something new . . .
Emmett had thought a lot about how he would put this, because he was worried that Billy would be disconcerted by the notion of leaving Morgen, especially so soon after their father’s death. But Billy wasn’t disconcerted at all.
__I was thinking the same thing, Emmett.
__You were?
Billy nodded with a hint of eagerness.
__With Daddy gone and the house foreclosed, there’s no need for us to stay in Morgen. We can pack up our things and drive to California.
__I guess we’re in agreement, said Emmett with a smile. The only difference is that I think we should be moving to Texas.
__Oh, we can’t be moving to Texas, said Billy, shaking his head.
__Why’s that?
__Because we’ve got to be moving to California.
Emmett started to speak, but Billy had already gotten up from his chair and gone to his backpack. This time, he opened the front pocket, removed a small manila envelope, and returned to his seat. As he carefully unwound the red thread that sealed the envelope’s flap, he began to explain.
__After Daddy’s funeral, when you went back to Salina, Mr. Ransom sent Sally and me over to the house to look for important papers. In the bottom drawer of Daddy’s bureau, we found a metal box. It wasn’t locked, but it was the kind of box you *could* lock if you wanted to. Inside it were important papers, just as Mr. Ransom had said there’d be—like our birth certificates and Mom and Dad’s marriage license. But at the bottom of the box, at the very bottom, I found these.
Billy tipped the envelope over the table and out slid nine postcards.
Emmett could tell from the condition of the cards that they weren’t exactly old and weren’t exactly new. Some of them were photographs and some were illustrations, but all were in color. The one on top was a picture of the Welsh Motor Court in Ogallala Nebraska—a modern-looking lodge with white cabanas and roadside plantings and a flagpole flying the American flag.
__They’re postcards, Billy said. To you and me. From Mom.
Emmett was taken aback. Nearly eight years had passed since their mother had tucked the two of them in bed, kissed them goodnight, and walked out the door—and they hadn’t heard a word from her since. No phone calls. No letters. No neatly wrapped packages arriving in time for Christmas. Not even a bit of gossip from someone who’d happened to hear something from somebody else. At least, that’s what Emmett had understood to be the case, until now.

RATING:
5 stars.

STARTED-FINISHED
10/09/2021 – 10/16/2021
( )

It was a good book. It unfolded in an unexpected way. ( )

What a fantastic story! I couldn't put it down.
A journey across America from Nebraska to California goes awry. Emmett is forced to change his plans, and an adventure into 1950s NYC ensues. The characters experience a "one-of-a-kind" kind of day!
The ending was a surprise, and I reread the last two chapters twice. The last scene is unforgettable! But I won't provide any spoilers.

Some touching quotes:

"The funny thing about a picture, thought Wolly, the funny thing about a picture is that while it knows everything that's happened, it knows absotively nothing about what will happen next. And yet, once the picture has been framed and hung on a wall, what you see when you look at it closely are all the things that were about to happen. All the un-things. The things that were un anicipated. And unintended. And unreversible." p. 498
How many of us have had an experience like this, looking at photographs of lost love-ones and lost times?
"If you give a trait that by all appearances is a merit... and give it to some poor soul in abundance, it will almost certainly prove an obstacle to their happiness..." p. 495

"Wouldn't it be wonderful, though Wooly, if everybody's life was like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle? then no one person's life would ever be an inconvenience to anyone else's. It would fit just snugly in its very own, specially designed spot, and in so doing, would enable the whole intricate picture to become complete." p. 500

That's true!
This is a book that made me laugh, cry, and think!
" ( )